What Should Have Been
by Nightlancer600
Summary: [MMPRPRSPD]Story of Kim's life MMPR to PRDT. Why did she send the letter? Kimberly must make a choice that will have a life changing impact on her life. Read and find out what will happen to Kim as her life progresses from the MMPR era to the era of PRDT.
1. Chapter 1: Long Goodbyes

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone. For those of you who have read the original story, I hope you like this one. It is better and more detailed. To those that are new, I hope that you enjoy reading this story.

I personally like the way the Ranger series is being taken, so for my story Mystic Force and Overdrive do not take place. The ranger series for me ends with SPD. My story takes place between MMPR and PRSPD. There are some differences between my story and the actual story line. For instance, there is a 9 year gap between PRiS and PRLG. I know that it may seem weird, but bare with me. It is all part of the story. If you want to see the ages of the rangers for my story and see how the 9 year gap fits into all of this, just e-mail me at Hope you guys enjoy the story. Any question, just drop me an e-mail. Please read and review!

A/N2: I need a beta reader, just incase anyone is interested in helping me. If you are interested, please let me know! Much appreciated.

**Chapter 1: Long Goodbyes**

**Angel Grove**: Present

A petite young brunette with low cut shorts and a pink tank top was standing near a boarding gate. A group of teens in assorted colors were all huddled around her.

"Well, I guess this is it guys," she said in a broken voice, her eyes starting to water, "I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" finally letting a tear roll down her cheek.

"Hey, come here" the teen in a white said, wrapping his arms around her. "It's gonna be okay. We all know you'll keep in touch. We'll make sure of it."

"Tommy's right you know," the teen in blue overalls said, "it's not like we'll never see you again."

"Yeah girl, you know I'm gonna call you every once in a while," the only other female in the group said, "and by _once in awhile_ you know I mean daily!" she said, getting the group to laugh a little bit. "You know, just to check up on you and see how you're doing…" leaning closer to the teen in pink while saying this, she whispered in her ear "_and to see how the boys in the Sunshine State are._" At this, the girl in pink burst out giggling.

"Aisha!" the girl in pink whispered loudly, still leaning against her.

"What!?!" Aisha whispered back loudly as well, "I heard from a very good source that the hunks from Florida are _fine_!"

Kimberly, now laughing out loud punched Aisha's arm playfully. "Yes, well you might have to go see them for yourself. I'm already taken." she said looking up at Tommy, who was having a side conversation with the other guys. "I only have eyes for my white knight."

Upon hearing his nickname, Tommy turned to the two girls, giving them a _what are you talking about_ glance. He wrapped his arms, which were now on Kim's waist, even harder. Once the two girls calmed down, he gave her a peck on the lips and rejoined the conversation he was having with the guys. Suddenly the teen in red asked a question.

"Hey Kim, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure Rocko, what's up?"

"When you get settled in Florida, can you call me up and let me know how great the food is?"

At this, the entire group burst out laughing. It took a few moments, but finally the laughter settled down. Trying hard to collect herself, Kimberly answered the question as best she could.

"Okay Rocky." she said, bursting into giggles once more.

"What!?! I hear the food is great"

"Always thinking with your stomach eh Rocky?" Adam, the teen in black said.

"Sure Rocky. I'll call you as some as I get some Florida food."

"Thanks Kim." Rocky said, giving her a huge hug. _Now boarding flight 298 to Miami Florida. Please go to gate 101._

"Have a safe trip Kim. Call us as soon as you can." Adam said, hugging Kim as well. Kim, in turn hugged him, and then proceeded to do the same with the rest of the group.

"Alright guys. Wish me luck" she said, as she took one more look at her friends.

"You don't need it Beautiful."

"Thanks Handsome."

"Well…here goes nothing." Kimberly started walking towards the security gate. The team was closer together so they could see their team mate off. Just as Kim got in line, someone yelled out her name.

"Kim! Wait!" Hearing her name, Kim turned around to see a tall blonde running through the airport. The others, hearing Kim's name also turn around. Recognizing the girl, they make way for her to pass through and reach Kim.

"Kim" the blonde said again, gasping for breath. She had a think Australian accent, but you could still understand what she said clearly.

"Hey Kat, I didn't think you would be able to make it." Kim said, hugging Kat.

"Me too. My parents got home right after Tommy had called saying they were headed here to come see you off. It turned out that they didn't need to stay at work late this time. My dad drove me here, the whole way though all I could think was _I hope I make it_."

"Well, I really appreciate it. Thanks for coming." Kim responded. She pulled Kat to the side, leaning in and talking to her in a low voice. Both girls seemed to be off in their own world, talking quietly among themselves. Rocky noticed this and brought it to the attention of the others. 

"What do you thing they are talking about?"

"Probably something about Florida" Aisha replayed.

"Yeah, well if Kim doesn't _hurry up_, she's going to _miss_ her flight!" Tommy said, emphasizing certain words. The girls heard Tommy's remark and turned around.

"I'm going, I'm going." Kim said, whispering something to Kat before heading back to the group, closely followed by Kat. "It seems that you are trying to get rid of me already all ready. And I'm not even on the plane yet." She said in a pouting voice.

"It's _far_ from wanting to get rid of you Beautiful But the faster you get on that plane, the faster you'll come back home to me." 

"I know. I know" Kim grabbed her luggage once more and looked at the rangers once last time. She smiled, memories of all the time they spent together going through her head. She made the hardest choice in the world to her; she turned her back to them and headed for the security gate. Suddenly filled with nervousness she turned around and looked at them again. The group seemed to understand each other, and they all embraced in one last group hug. Kim made sure to burn this memory especially into her mind. After a few moments, she once again picked up her luggage and headed off.

Putting her luggage on the conveyor belt, Kim took off any metal and put it on the tray handed to her by one of the officers there. She walked through the metal detector and picked up her stuff on the other end. Once everything was in order, she turned around once more to see her friends waving goodbye to her. She waived back. Slowly, she started walking to her terminal to board the plane. Giving her ticket to the woman in charge, she went through the bridge and entered the plane.

Searching for her seat, she headed further and further back. It wasn't until she reached the bathroom that she found her seat. Located near the end of the plane, she saw that no one else was seated next to her. She put her stuff now next to her and looked around. The flight attendants were near the front of the plane, helping passengers find their seats. Making sure that no one headed her way, she grabbed her luggage and put it in the bathroom. Sitting back down, she saw a few people come her way. But no one sat next to her.

Looking around again, she subtly went into the bathroom. She closed the door, but made sure that she didn't lock it. She pulled out a black device, which looked a lot like a communicator and pressed a button on the side. After beeping a few moments, she grabbed her luggage and stood up straight. A few moments later, she was enveloped in a combination of pink, black, and white light. In a mere second, she had teleported off the plane and into the sky.

Back in the airport, the teens watched as the plane took off. Tommy was the closest to the window, staring at the plane as it took his girlfriend away from him, 3000 miles across the nation. Slowly, the plane disappeared off into the sky. After a few moments he turned around and walked back towards the rest of the group. Thinking to himself: _we'll manage, somehow, but we'll manage_.

"You gonna be okay Tommy?" Billy asked concern for his friend evident in his voice.

"Yeah. It's going to be hard." Tommy said, looking off in the direction of the plane before facing the team again. "But we'll manage"

"What time is it?" Adam asked, looking for a clock.

"About ten to eight." Aisha answered. 

"We should be going then. It's late and our parents are going to start wondering why we're taking so long."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's head home." Tommy said, a sad expression on his face but none the less taking the lead and heading out of the airport. Once outside again, they all looked in the direction of the planes path. Each one of them aware that, even though it was only temporary, they had each lost a sister, a friend, a loved one, a teammate, and the heart of the team. Because that was what Kim was to them, the Heart and Soul of the team.

They headed back towards the parking lot. None of them knowing that this would be the last time they would see the Kimberly they knew. They would not see or hear from Kim for a very long time. And when they would meet again, it would not be the same Kimberly that had left.

Not looking back, they didn't see a light of pink, black and white landed outside the airport. A tiny brunette dressed in pink stood next to a 1967 Mustang Convertible, watched them drive into the sunset, a lone tear falling from her eye. _Goodbye my friends. Goodbye Tommy, I will always love you_. Kim waited a few moments before getting into her car and driving off, heading for the outskirts of Angel Grove.


	2. Chapter 2: The Prophesy

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews from the previous chapter, I'm glad you all like it. I'm updating again today because I wanted to let all of you know that I plan to update this story every week or two, no earlier than Friday and no later than Sunday night. This way the writing of the story, which is still in progress, won't conflict with my schedule. Thanks again for your support!

**A/N2: **There are somethings you guys should also know. Very early into the chapter, you will see the _**Flashback**_, which of course indicates that Kimberly is remembering. The story is going to remain in this type of point of view for the next couple of chapters. I will let you know when Kimberly is back in present time. Hope this doesn't confuse you much, but I thought you might want to know what lead up to the things that will happen as the story progresses. Also, for my story, Kat was never evil, she got over her fear of water way before meeting the rangers, and she met them under normal circumstances. She also has no interest in Tommy.

**Chapter 2:** The Prophesy  


It was almost midnight by the time the pink Mustang arrived at it's destination on the outskirts of town. The airport was located on the opposite side of town, so Kim had to drive a _very_ long time in order to reach her destination. This was because all the shortcuts required her to drive through her old neighborhood. If she went through there, there was the possibility that someone would recognize her; which was something she had to avoid _at all costs_. She couldn't allow the others to know that she had not really gone to Florida. At least not yet. This was why she had to be very careful. Angel Grove was a very small town, almost anyone could recognize her. If she was seen, then all this planning would have been for nothing.

As Kim was driving towards the command center, the thought of how things would unravel ran through her mind. _I feel so guilty; I wish I didn't have to be so secretive. I just hope this ends well_. Still having to drive for a few more minutes, Kimberly though back on how it had all began.

_**Flashback**_

It was not long after her mother had moved to Paris. Kimberly's father was still traveling, so Aisha's family happily offered Kimberly a place to stay. At first, Kimberly had said no outright. She didn't want to impose on her family. But after some thinking on her part and some pushing on Aisha's part, Kim finally gave in and agreed.

A few days later, or a few nights to be more precise, something happened that would change Kimberly's life forever.

Kimberly was asleep in her comfortable bed. She was dreaming about a certain white night in shining armor. All of a sudden, she started feeling tingly all over. _Why does this feel so familiar? _Kimberly opened her eyes just in time to see herself surrounded by pink light.

"Hello?" Kimberly asked in a groggy voice. She rubbed her eyes in order to see where she was. Her eyes were still more than half way closed, so her surrounding were still very dark. "What time is it?"

"Ayayayayi!" Alpha said, handing Kimberly a robe to slip on to keep warm. "We're so sorry to wake you Kimberly. But this is urgent. Zordon needs your help." Hearing this, Kimberly was wide awake, the look of tiredness no longer dominating her features.

"What's the matter Alpha? Did something happen to Zordon? Why aren't the others here yet?" panic engulfing her voice as she looked around the command center for traces of the other rangers.

"Calm down Kimberly. Nothing has happened to me." Zordon said, finally appearing in his warp tube. Kimberly visibly relaxed, but still had a look of confusion on her face.

"You are here because I need your help"

"What do you need my help in?"

"First of all, I must apologize. I have not been completely honest with you and the other rangers." Kimberly just stared at him, confusion now completely evident on her face. "I have other abilities that I have kept hidden from all of you. One of the powers that I maintained after being trapped in this tube is the ability to see the future. As you know, I have been working extensible time with Tommy since his gaining of the white ranger powers, even after the Ninjetti powers. It was during our last session that a vision came to me."

"What did you see?"

"I saw events that will take place within the span of a few years. These events are of the up most importance. Before I reveal anything else, you must understand that there is nothing you can do to change the future." Kimberly nodded. "What I am about to tell you will change all of your lives forever. Especially yours if you choose to accept this."

"I don't understand…"

"It will all make sense soon Kimberly. In a few years time, the red space ranger you will come to know as Andros will destroy my energy tube." Kimberly's face filled with horror. _But if his tube is destroyed…then that means…_ "Yes Kimberly, I will die."

Kimberly's face changed from horror to outright disbelief. She couldn't believe she was hearing this.

"Death is inevitable. Everyone, even I must go through life and culminate with death. But my passing is not what is important. This vision was a warning that I do not have much longer left to live. And so I must make choices that will fulfill the prophesy that was said when I took a place on the High Council of Eltare."

Kimberly couldn't believe this. Zordon was telling her that only a few years from now, he was going to die. She couldn't process this. She didn't want to _hear_ any of this anymore. She wanted to be in her bed, cuddling her favorite stuffed animal under the covers and having sweet dreams, in stead of being here. But as much as she hated this, there was one thing that was bugging her: _what prophesy was Zordon talking about?_ Despite her better judgment, she decided to ask.

"What prophesy are you talking about? What did it say?"

"This prophesy was said on the day of my acceptance of the position of Leader of the High Council of Eltare. A woman came to me and told me she had seen something that was troublesome yet also a blessing. She asked to allow her to see into my future and try to decipher this mystery. I granted her permission and she undertook this task. What emerged at the end of her quest was this prophesy, which was all she could tell me."

"_There will come a day when evil will resurface. On this day 5 of 6 will choose the path of the side of light and fight for the fate of the universe, Soon after the sixth will join the fight, first as an enemy, then as a friend, When reunited with the light, two chosen will forever unite as one._

_A time shall pass before evil joins forces. Fighting as one, evil shall all but prevail. The Champion of the Light and thus your heir shall lead others and fight in your name. If this is to occur, you must choose your successor, for soon, before your time is up, a vision will be presented to you. In this you will see the cause of your demise._

_Before your time expires, you will know whom you will choose to be your heir. At this time, the Lord of the skies and his agile Lady shall part ways, but never too far. A single thread, that which will become the ultimate weapon against darkness, shall join them as one forever. _

_Though times will be troubled and despair will be predominant, they shall reunite again and then nevermore be apart. When this comes to pass, it is then that the Phoenix will fly After this, all shall be well with the universe, and Lord, Lady, and their Phoenix will become legends._"

By the time Zordon had finished reciting the prophesy, Kimberly was in complete and total shock. There were keywords and sentences that depicted certain people, herself included. And based on what Zordon said, either she or Tommy would be his heir. To her it seemed as if neither one of them had a choice in who she was destined to be with. _Me and Tommy soulmates…it's not as if I mind…I love Tommy, but having a child? Sure, we've talked about kids, but still…_

After a few moments of silence, Zordon continued, "The prophesy states that this child shall defeat the greatest evil. But in order for that to happen, this child needs something which only I posses."

"As I'm sure you have figured it out, my heir will be either Tommy or you. I must choose someone soon. Certain things have to be done in order to complete the final stages of my succession. You being here should give you the idea that I have chosen you to become my heir."

All Kimberly could do was stare into Zordon's face. She was the one he had chosen. Not Tommy, her…but why?

"Why…why me?"

"I chose you Kimberly for the very simple reason that you won my heart. Once, long ago, when I still lived on Eltare, I had a family. My wife, Aria and I had a child together, a daughter we named .Kiana after my mother. Kiana meant the world to me, as well as my wife." Zordon said, now looking off into space. Kimberly took this pause to revel in her own thoughts. _I never knew Zordon has a wife, let alone a daughter. I wonder what happen to them and where they are…how come he's never said anything…I'd really like to meet them someday._ Zordon's features changed into a solemn and painful expression all of a sudden, as if his memories were physically hurting him.

"Unfortunately, my daughter was born the year in which the galactic was at its peak. One morning the High Council had declared an emergency meeting to try and steer the war away from Eltare. We had decided to attack Zedd's base directly in hopes of getting a momentary retreat from their side. What the council didn't know what that we had a traitorous spy within us. The spy had warned Zedd of our plans, and in retaliation, he attacked us directly, beginning with the High Council. The attack was devastating. After it was over, Eltare was left ravaged. Few survived. Only I and one other from the High Council survived. As for citizens, most didn't make it. Most of the military soldiers survived, and those that were not in Eltare at the time of the attack were also spared. As head of the council, I appointed new members that I knew I could trust. Together we came up with the plan to spread throughout the galaxy and seek help from other planets. It took a few years, but we managed to get the support we needed and in one final battle, we destroyed Zedd's army and drove him to the ends of the universe and contained him there." Kimberly was in complete awe. She never knew this had ever happened before. She felt an overwhelming sadness for Zordon and all the hardships that he had to go through.

"Unfortunately, both Aria and Kiana…perished when Eltar was attacked. I later found out that they were trapped in our home, without a possible way to escape. When I learned of their deaths, I vowed to myself never to let evil win. It is for them that I do what I do. For many centuries, I have fought against evil, trying to put an end to it. This way, the death of my family will not have been in vain." Zordon's voice was full of emotion as he finished his tale. Kimberly was now openly crying. She was amazed by Zordon's story. It was so saddening but encouraging at the same time. Kimberly now held a new sense of admiration and respect for the man she viewed as her surrogate father. She was very proud to help Zordon in any way she could.

"I never thought that I would be able to heal this pain in my heart. I had lost the ones that I loved most, the ones that kept me going day after day. I changed greatly after the attack, becoming isolated and cold. It took many years to come to term with my wife and daughter's deaths. I never thought that I could love someone that way again. But the day came when I chose you five to become my rangers. I didn't think that the bond that would form between us would change from that of a mentor. As time went on, I began seeing you as my children. I grew to love you all immensely.

"But it was you Kimberly; it was you that began to hold a special place in my heart. You reminded me of my daughter in so many ways. You allowed me to feel warm inside again." Kimberly smiled at this comment as she shed more tears. You ask why I chose you instead of Tommy. It was because you hold something incredible within you. Yes Tommy is the stronger ranger, but you fight with more than just strength. You fight with all of your heart, with all of your passion. A passion and determination that is unmatched by any other."

"Thank you for believing in me this much Zordon. I will help you in any way that I can. What am I suppose to do? Obviously Tommy and I are soul mates. We are going to create a child together. But my question is when is all this suppose to happen?"

"I'm sorry Kimberly, but there is not much else that I can say at this moment. There has to be other things that need to happen first." 

"I understand." Kimberly nodded. Alpha had remained quite throughout the entire night, occupying himself with other things in order to let Zordon fill Kim in with the information. Seeing as Zordon was very emotional right now, he decided to take the initiative.

"Pardon me, but I must insist on making this formal."

"Go ahead Alpha, it is your job to do so.". Kimberly looked confused as Zordon and Alpha spoke. _Formal? _Alpha turned to face Kim completely. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Do you, Kimberly Ann Hart, accept and choose to become the successor of Zordon of Eltare and become the heir to the Eltarian throne, Head Council of the Eltarian High Council, High priestess of Phaedos, and become the Master of the Ninjetti warriors?"

Kimberly was in shock. Those were a lot of titles and responsibilities. She turned to look at Zordon and saw that his eyes held a warm stare towards her. She opened her mouth and tried to speak. But nothing came out.

"You do not need to answer right away. But I will need to know your decision by Friday. I must also ask you not to reveal what has been spoken tonight to anyone, not even the other rangers. If you have any questions, ask Alpha in a discrete manner at the appropriate time. If you chose not to accept, I shall inform Tommy. But everything that will happen to my heir must be kept a secret."

"Okay."

"Alpha, please teleport Kimberly back home." Turning to Kimberly, "think about what has been said tonight. And know that no matter what your choice is, I believe that you will make the correct one and I will think no less of you if you do not accept. Try and get _some_ sleep. May the power protect you."

Kimberly nodded and smiled at Zordon. She said goodnight and was enveloped in pink light. Soon all the buzzing and whirring or the computers was gone as she found herself in her room once more. She made her way to her bed, laid down and pulled the covers over her. She sat there, the same thought going through her head as well as Zordon and Alpha…_what is going to happen now?_

**A/N3:** Well, what do you guys think???? This is the second chapter of the story and so far this chapter alone took up 6 pages. Let me know what you guys think and if you have any ideas, let me know. I like to incorporate my readers' ideas into my story. Still need a **beta reader** if anyone's interested.

See you next update

Nightlancer600


	3. Chapter 3: What to do?

**Chapter 3: **What To Do?

Kimberly was walking along the designated path at Angel Grove Park. Everyone else was at the Youth Center, checking out the new pool that Ernie had just installed. He had previously talked to the team about adding a swimming pool in order to attract more customers as well as make the hot summer days easier to bear. After months of saving up money and a few fundraisers and some remodeling, the new pool was created. Ernie had asked the rangers to test drive the pool for a few hours, before he let anyone else into the Youth Center.

But after what happened last night, Kimberly wasn't exactly in the mood to go swimming. She told the other rangers that she had to do some errands around town and so she wouldn't be able to join them. At first they all tried to convince her to come along with them, saying that they would help her do her errands after they went swimming. It took them a while, but Kimberly was persistent and eventually the team gave up. To try and make it up to them, she said that as soon as she was done with her errands, she would join them at the pool.

After walking around the park for a while, her legs lead her to the spot where she and Tommy first kissed. She stared at the lake for a moment, a million things going through her head, before sitting down Indian-style. _What should I do? What happens if I make the wrong choice? I don't want to disappoint Zordon. But what if I choose to help and fail anyway? What if Zordon was wrong and I'm not strong enough?_

"Ugh!!" Kimberly punched the ground with all her might. She had so many questions, yet for every possible answer, twice as many questions popped up. _I guess this is one of those times I should ask for a sign_. At that moment, her communicator went off.

"Come in Alpha"

"Kimberly, putties are attacking the downtown district. I've tried communicating with the other rangers, but they do not respond."

"They've probably left their communicators in the lockers." Kimberly said more to herself than Alpha. "Alright Alpha, I'm on my way. Keep trying to contact the others." Kimberly got up and started running to the downtown area, it not being to far away from the park.

Arriving at the scene, Kimberly had to push herself against the crowd of people rushing to leave the area. It only took a few moments for the huge crowd to dissipate, eventually leaving her alone to face the putties.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone who can fight back!?" The putties began to crowd around her and launched an attack. Kimberly launched herself into a series of kicks and flips. Throwing a few punches here and there, she managed to knock out quite a few of them. The putties were backing off just a little bit, but it was enough for something to catch Kimberly's eye. The group of putties was standing between her and a little girl. The putties somehow noticed her looking behind them, only to see the little girl too. A group of them broke away and headed to where the little girl was hiding. Kimberly hit a few of the putties and jumped into a front flip, landing right behind the group of putties. She fought each of them and got to the little girl. She was just about to talk to her when a bigger group of putties came out of nowhere.

"Stay behind me!" Kimberly instructed the little girl, but didn't wait for a response. "Ninjetti Power! The Crane!" Kim morphed and began to fight with a new found strength.

_Youth Center_

_Same Time_

Everybody seemed to be enjoying today. People were coming in and out of the Youth Center. Ernie's idea was a complete success. The rangers were laughing and splashing around the pool as other people were being allowed into it. Ernie had just opened the Youth Center to the public, after they got a few hours of private use for the pool.

"Ernie made an excellent choice in adding the pool." Rocky said, floating along the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, and it's a great way to help you guys with your martial arts as well as Kim with her gymnastics." Aisha said, going underwater and getting her hair wet once more.

"Speaking of Kim…I'm worried about her. Did you guys notice how she was acting this morning?" Tommy voiced.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it was just because she was tired. I heard her talking to herself around 3:30 this morning. And when I went to wake her up, she was already up, dressed and going downstairs for breakfast." Aisha said, turning to Tommy.

"That's weird. Has that ever happened before?"

"Not really. She probably just had a nightmare or something…" Aisha shrugged.

"Maybe. I'll ask her when we see her later." Tommy responded, not fully letting the subject go.

"So I guess there's only one thing left to do in order to get your mind off of this…" Adam said, locking at Rocky for a nod of approval. Rocky nodded and both began heading towards him.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Tommy asked, not paying attention.

"Chicken!!!!" Rocky yelled as Billy was picked up by Adam and Rocky jumped onto Tommy's shoulders. The guys began to fight with each other while the girls moved out of their way.

"Guys…" Aisha nodded, rolling her eyes. Kat got a mischievous look in her eyes and leaned into Aisha and whispered something in her ear.

"I've got this great idea. Why don't we…" Aisha leaned in some more to hear all the details, laughing when Kat said some things and nodding the entire time. Both girls dove under water, making sure the guys didn't see them. They swam to where the guys were playing, and looked at each other before taking their positions. Kat was between Adam's legs and Aisha between Tommy's. Since everything was lighter when in water, both girls were able to use the boys' chicken game to their advantage by using their imbalance against them. As one, they lifted Adam and Tommy just enough to cause Billy and Rocky to fall over and cause all four of them to go underwater.

"What the…" Tommy and Adam looked at each other, realization of what was happening in their faces, yet not being able to do anything about it. The girls were fast enough to move away from the coming mess, and resurfaced at the other end of the pool. After a few moments of splashing and tugging, all four boys came up for air. They all had identical looks in their eyes. Nodding in approval, all four began to advance towards the girls.

"Uh-oh" Aisha said, starting to swim away.

"Um…guys…it was a joke…you know, haha…." Kat said, following Aisha's lead.

"Yeah. Come on going, can't we talk about this…"

"Let's get'em!" Rocky yelled, signaling the others to begin the chase. Tommy and Billy chased Kat, while Rocky and Adam chased Aisha. This chase lasted for a while, the rangers enjoying themselves. Little did they know what was happening to Kim just a few miles away.

_Meanwhile_

_Downtown District_

_Thud_. Kim's body hit the floor hard, causing the morph she had to break. She had been able to defend herself against the newly appeared putties. But all this fighting was wearing Kim down. Pretty soon she wouldn't be able to hold anymore of them off. She didn't want to morph again unless she absolutely had to. She wanted to save her energy as much as possible. So far, the little girl had not been touched. Kim had kept any of the putties from going past her defense. Unfortunately, Kim was falling back, cornering her and the little girl against a wall.

Zedd, who was watching from his palace on the moon was enjoying this very much. It had been about 20 minutes since he had sent his putties to attack the city of Angel Grove.

"Where are those Power Punks!?!?" Goldar asked, he too enjoying the show.

"I don't know, but they've left the pink ranger all on her own," he said laughing, "She's a poor pathetic human, I guess they've given up and let me take over the world."

"I think so boss."

"It doesn't matter. I will win with or without the rangers there. Now how about we go and pay the pink ranger a visit?" Zedd laughed once more before disappearing from his moon palace, making his way to earth. Goldar tagged along, hoping to be able to get some of the fun.

The putties had now successfully drawn Kimberly away from the little girl, having taken Kim and dragging her away from the secluded corner. The little girl was trying to run away, but the putties had formed a wall of sorts around her, preventing her from leaving.

"Hey! Get away from her! Leave her alone!" Kim yelled, struggling against the putties that were holding her back. Slowly, the putties were overpowering her, taking a hold of her arms and legs to stop her from attacking them. One of the putties grabbed the little girl, pulling her closer to him.

"Ahhh! Let me go!" the little girl fought back, throwing punches and kicks in every direction.

"Let…her…go!" Kim managed to break free and started running after the putties that had the little girl. She almost reached them when something blasted her away. This time, nothing broke her fall as she hit the concrete full force, causing a small crater to appear. She had been tossed like a rag doll, which made her wonder what had hit her. Slowly she got up again, holding her right arm close to her and hunching over a bit, putting more weight on her right leg. She looked up, expecting to see a monster there, waiting to attack her, but was shocked and surprised to see where that blast had come from.

"Zedd!"Kim spat.

"Well, well, well, and what do we have here? The pesky pink power brat, defending a defenseless little girl! Ha! Isn't that sweet?" Zedd signaled the putties to grab hold of Kim once more. She grunted in pain as the putties grabbed her right arm. She bit back a scream of pain, deciding not to give Zedd the pleasure of hearing her cry out in pain. Zedd though, saw the look on her face, and smiled under his metal plate.

"What's the matter Kimmie? Are you hurt?"

"Let her go Zedd!"

"And why should I do that? It's not as if she mattered."

"She's an innocent child, she has nothing to do with you or your plans. It's me you want, so let her go!"

"That is true." Zedd stood there, thinking for a moment before signaling the putties that had the girl. "Bring her to me." The little girl struggled as the putties picked her up and brought her to Zedd. Kim tried to break free, hoping to stop Zedd from hurting her but to no avail. She was exhausted from fighting that she had almost no energy to fight back.

"Dear, dear, Kimberly… what would you be willing to do in exchange for her life?"

_Command Center_

All Zordon and Alpha could do was watch as Kimberly faced those putties. Alpha was still trying frantically to locate the others. Zordon was feeling helpless, watching his ranger fighting against all odds.

"Keep trying Alpha! There must be a way to communicate with them."

"Ay ya ya ya yai. Hold on Kimberly!" Alpha said, pressing buttons trying to contact the rangers. "Next time, I'll make the communicators waterproof."

_Youth Center_

The rangers were relaxing, having grown tired of chasing the girls around. Now, they were more or less, lounging around. A tall guy was looking around the command center, as if he were searching for someone. Not seeing who he was looking for, he decided to address the entire room.

"Excuse me," he said in a loud voice, getting everyone's attention. "There are a couple of phones that are going off in the lockers. They had a funny sounding ring tone; almost beeping."

"Yeah, there was also one in the women's locker room." A young woman said, standing up from her seat. A few people got up and went to check.

"Beeping…?" Billy asked, starting to wonder.

"What are the possibilities of a bunch of phones going off at the same time…in both locker rooms?" Adam asked.

"You don't think…" Aisha began to wonder as well.

"It couldn't be…" Rocky said, slowly getting closer to the edge of the pool.

The rangers looked at each other. They all got up and out of the pool, trying not to seem suspicious. Once they were out of sight, they sprinted to their locker rooms to check. After a few minutes, the ranger all met outside in the alley. They formed a circle around Tommy and nodded to begin communication.

"Come in Zordon."

"Rangers…Finally. There's no time to explain, Kimberly needs your help. Zedd sent down putties a half hour ago and Kimberly went to try and stop them. She was able to hold them off for a while, before they captured a little girl. Zedd has just arrived and is currently holding the little girl hostage. You've got to hurry and help them!"

"We're on our way. Ready guys?"

"Ready!"

"It's Morphin' Time! Ninja Ranger Power!"

"The Bear!"

"The Ape!"

"The Frog!"

"The Wolf!"

"The Falcon!"

"Alright guys! Let's go!"

At the same time, Kimberly was still trying to break free. She still had not answered Zedd's question, hoping to buy some time.

"So you see what a kind and benevolent master I am, I will grant your one request. Let both of them go," he turned to face Kim once more, "on the condition that you stay right were you are. Don't try to make any sudden movements." Kim nodded as the putties let both of them go. She turned to the little girl and kneeled beside her.

"You're free now. Run along home, and don't stop until you get there okay." Kim asked, making sure the little girl wasn't hurt. The little girl nodded and started walking away. Kimberly watched as the little girl was walking slowly, scared to run off until she couldn't be seen. As she was approaching the corner, Zedd pointed his staff at her back. Kim's mind registered what was happening and sprinted towards the little girl.

"No!" Kim yelled, running as fast as she could, trying to reach the little girl. Everything seemed to go in slow motion from there. Kim knew she wouldn't be able to reach the little girl in time. She had outrun Zedd's blast, but only by a few inches. She had to make a split second decision, stepping in front of the blast, just as it was about to reach the little girl huddled in fear. She spread her arms protectively around her, taking on the full blast. But before it made contact, Kimberly reached deep down into herself, and pulled on as much power and energy as possible and was able to morph.

At the same time as Zedd fired the blast, the rangers had arrived at the scene. They saw as Kim broke into a run and tried to reach the little girl. They also knew that she wouldn't be able to make it and knew what she had to do. It pained them to see her step in front of the blast; arms wide open, protecting the little girl.

"KIM!"

Unfortunately, they also knew there was nothing they could do but yell her name out. They had arrived too late. They saw as a pink glow surrounded Kim as the blast hit her full force. The collision of the attack and Kim's morph was so powerful that everyone was caught unprepared. All of them were tossed to the ground as the force of the attack rippled around them. A white light followed the collision, blinding everyone as well. Smoke and debris were falling everywhere. But soon, all there was was silence.

**AN:**** Well, what do you guys think? As promised, this was updated after two weeks of nothing. This took me two weeks to write, because I'm trying to write up the story itself. Currently I'm on chapter 11. I'm still looking for a beta, if any of you are interested. I have bad news for you guys though, I am leaving for North Carolina on Saturday, and so I won't be able to update this story until probably mid July due to me starting school on the 2****nd****. Hopefully you guys don't abandon this story. **

**On the bright side, I'll be able to write more of the story. I think I'll reach at least chapter 25 by the time I get back. Now the only problem will be typing it all up. Again sorry for this. Look for another post sometime between now and Friday morning. I will try to type up chapter 4 after I have posted this chapter. Thanks for your support. Please Read and Review! **

**Catch you guys later :D**

**Nightlancer **


	4. Chapter 4: Battle Aftermath

AN: Hey guys. Sorry that I haven't updated in while. I have been super busy with school and decathlon. I thought that you guys deserved an update so here it is. Please read the note at the bottom, at the end of the chapter. It has some important information for you guys. Thanks again for reading. Please review!

I would also like to thank my new beta reader Alana for helping me. Thanks a bunch.

**Chapter 4**: Battle Aftermath

A few moments passed in moderate silence. There was rubble falling down everywhere. Those of the rangers that had enhanced hearing due to their ranger powers, that is, Billy and Aisha, heard a body hit the floor hard. Both quickly got up and started searching frantically. The others, confused at first, got the hang of it and they too began searching. There was a lot of dust and smoke lingering after the attack. It was hard for them to see anything. They wanted to be very careful because they didn't know if Zedd was still alive, or worse, if he was still there.

"Falcon Zord rise!!" Tommy called out. The falcon zord followed his master's command, coming at once. It came flying down towards the rangers, changing course just in time to avoid the rangers. The gust of wind following the zord was enough to clear the remaining dust, smoke, and debris. Unfortunately, they could see the damage that was done right away. They could also see the one who was responsible for it.

"Hahaha!!! Looks like you are one ranger down! Pathetic really, couldn't even protect herself, let alone a child. That's too bad! She always was my favorite. Hehehe. I wonder what I'm going to do for fun now? Oh well. Toodles rangers! Hahahaha" Zedd disappeared, all the while laughing at his own accomplishments.

Taken back by what Zedd said, the rangers were frozen in place. A piece of rubble moving was what shook them out of their trance. They all spread around and began looking for Kimberly and the little girl. It seems to take forever, but the rangers wouldn't give up. They kept searching and searching. Finally a few minutes later, they got a break. It was Adam that found them. He was searching through a relatively small pile of rubble when he spotted something familiar. He was moving pieces of concrete when he saw a shoe.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Tommy ran so fast, he managed to pick up a small gust behind. The others were not far behind, slowing down as they approached Adam and Tommy. They all gathered around, forming a circle and began moving debris out of the way. It didn't take them very long to remove it all, now working together instead of each having their own pile. The rangers powered down and tried to absorb the scene before them. Aisha couldn't look for very long, beginning to sob quietly and turning away, Rocky wrapped his arm around her, giving her a small squeeze. Silence overpowered the rest of them. All any of them could do was stare at the body of their friend. A small groan was heard, coming from the little girl. Looking more closely, Adam could see the little girl was not unconscious. Quite the contrary, she was awake and trembling. She was in shock and wouldn't let go of Kim. By the look of things, she only had minor cuts and bruises.

Kim had gotten the brunt of the attack, displaying a significant amount of injuries. She managed to shield the little girl, her back taking most of the attack. Not having completed her morph, as only her upper body was in costume, the rest her body took a devastating hit. Slowly, blood was pooling all around her, which meant that she had a very serious wound that was open. Her face was almost unrecognizable, her helmet shattered into her face. Her arms were wrapped around the little girl, and sustained a few cuts and bruises, which would heal nicely over time. One of her legs was badly dislocated and had some of the tissue singed. Kimberly would spend a long time recovering from this if she survived. That was what was running through their heads. _There's no way that she could have survived this_. They all had tears in their eyes and were crying openly by this point.

Finally Tommy slowly kneeled down and crouched next to Kim's body, beginning to move her hand out of the way. He approached the little girl, picking her up gently and moving her away from Kim. All the little girl did was stare at him, and turned to look at Kim. She began struggling, trying to break free of Tommy's grasp. It took a moment, but she finally broke free. Tommy couldn't do much, and so he let her go. The little girl walked over to Kim's body and sat down next to it. No one bothered her. They didn't really know what she was doing, but they gave her space. Slowly, in the circle that they had formed, the rangers sat down. A few minutes later, Aisha came close and sat next to her. The rangers were all saddened by this. Each grieved the loss of their friend in their own way. Minutes passed in silence, only hearing the quite sobs on occasion. Suddenly the little girl stood up. Aisha followed suit, standing and taking hold of her hand. The rest of them soon did the same. Tommy was only one to remain crouching at Kim's side.

Reaching out to her, he removed the blood stained hair from her face, wiping off some of the dirt and grime as well. Carefully, he picked her up, placing one arm under her neck and the other under her knees. Making sure he had a firm grip, he began walking away. As he walked past the other rangers, he felt something move. Looking down at her face, he saw her eyes begin to twitch. Very slowly, they opened up, showing a pair of doe brown eyes. Tommy stopped in his tracks. All he could do was look up and blink continuously. Trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he stopped blinking and stared at Kim again. Her eyes were open.

"Hey…handsome…" Kim said, in a broken, dried, and cracked voice. The others heard her and quickly walked to Tommy.

"Kimberly?" Tommy asked cautiously, almost afraid to speak for fear that it would just be his imagination.

"Is…she…okay?" 

"Yeah, she is. Thanks to you." Tommy's eyes filled with tears now.

"Good…ugh…I…" Kimberly couldn't say anymore. She passed out from the pain and exhaustion. Tommy panicked and started to try and wake her up. He kept calling her name. Billy knew that Tommy shouldn't do that, so he walked up to him and made him stop.

"Let her rest Tommy," placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder, Billy looked straight into his eyes. "We have to get her back to the command centre. Zordon will know what to do" Tommy nodded, knowing that Billy was right.

"What do we do with the little girl?" Aisha asked.

"Let's take her with us. We'll have Alpha check her over. Then we'll find out where she lives." Rocky said, going into leader mode, since their current leader was in no shape to make decisions.

"Alpha, teleport us to the command centre." Tommy said.

5 streaks of light flew throughout the blue sky. All that was left behind was a chaotic scene. There was rubble everywhere. Buildings were damaged, some more than others. Cars were totaled. By the time the police arrived, no traces of there being human beings there was left. Everything looked as though it had been right after the blast cleared. The only difference was that this time, there was no puddle of blood.

**AN2****: So here it was. Sorry that it was short, but this was the only thing I could do for now. I will be working as hard as I can to update as much as possible. With school and decathlon starting, this is going to be hard for me. But I will try my best to update. Thank you all so much for reading this story. Please leave a review after you finish, it would make me really happy. :D Hope you guys enjoyed this. Until next time.**

**  
Nightlancer6000**


	5. Chapter 5: Dana

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm not making any money off of this, and only some of the monsters are my creation….

AN1: Here's the next chapter for the story. Thanks so much to Alana for reading this; I appreciate the time she puts into it and how long she has to wait for me to send her something.

Chapter 5: Dana

Upon arriving, Alpha directed Tommy to put Kimberly on a table near the back of the command center. Out of nowhere, a steel door shut off the passage to the room. But before it closed, Billy was requested to aid in the process if saving Kim. Everyone else was left outside. Adam was standing near the viewing globe, while Aisha sat down her back against one of the machines. Rocky was pacing which after a while started to annoy Aisha.

"Rocky! Stop pacing."

"Sorry. It's just that I'm worried. Neither Tommy nor Billy have come out yet."

"We know. But there isn't anything we can do. You, Adam, and I need to stay calm and come up with a plan."

"A plan for what?"

"For what we're going to tell my parents. IF Kim doesn't come home they are going to wonder what happened. If I tell them she stayed at a friend's house, they'll want to talk to her, and I don't think she can talk right now."

"Let's do a round robin then. We'll each call our parents, telling them we are staying at each others houses for the weekend to work on a project. We will have to designate one of our houses as the base. Since it's a long weekend, we won't have to worry about school. We'll stay here incase anything happens."

"Okay." The remaining teammates began making phone calls, encountering almost no trouble form their parents. Aisha was sitting down again, staring off into space, the events of today playing over and over again in her head, when she gasped suddenly.

"Where's the little girl?!"

"Um..." Rocky and Adam looked at each other and then to Aisha. they started looking all over the command center. They felt bad that they had not paid attention to the little girl, in their defense though; they were all very worried about Kimberly.

_Swoosh_. The door that had been closed for the past half hour opened again. Tommy and Alpha came out. There in the arms of Tommy was the little girl. The three suddenly rushed over to the coming group. Alpha went to grab something and headed back into the room, the door once again closing behind him. The others looked back at their leader. Tommy was broken. His face was stained with silent tears.

"Hey Tommy, how is she? How bad were the injuries?" Aisha asked. Tommy just loked away, not really wanting to talk about it just yet. Letting the little girl stand on her own, he headed off into a corner alone. The others just left him, knowing he wouldn't want to talk about it now. Aisha instead focused on the little girl, who now sat on the floor. She made sure that the little girl was okay, noting that she only had minor bruses and a small bandage on her arm. Aisha didn't know what to do, so she just sat on the floor next to her, waiting just like the others.

A few hours passed before anything happened. The little girl had moved off to a corner as well, lying down on the floor. She fell asleep for an hour and then woke up again. She had a confused look for a bit before realizing what had happened. She stood up and walked over to Tommy. She sat down next to him and looked into his eyes.

"It's my fault isn't it?" she asked, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Huh?"

"It's my fault"

"No it isn't. It's just that she's really hurt and we don't know when she's gonna get better."

"If I had just stayed at the party, then I wouldn't have been there and she wouldn't have gotten in the way."

"As a power ranger, it is our job to protect the people who live here in Angel Grove. Anyone of us would have done the same thing."

"I guess."

"Now what's this about a party?"

"Well, today's my birthday, and my daddy made a party."

"Then we should get you home then. You've been gone for a while now and we don't want him getting even more worried."

"Okay"

"Aisha can you take her home?" Tommy asked, standing up and helping the little girl up.

"Sure. Come on." Aisha extended her hand. But the little girl didn't take it.

"No. I want you guys to come. All of you."

"We can't. I can't. I need to stay here incase Kim..."

"She won't wake up." Billy said, cutting off Tommy's train of thought. He was emerging from the room, heading towards the rest of the rangers. He looked completely worn out, his face full of sorrow. What made his appearance more gruesome was the fact that he was covered in blood, and he was so pale he looked like he was about to pass out.

"She's..."Tommy began to object, before being cut off once more.

"There's nothing you can do. Kim won't wake up. At least not for another few hours. We gave her a sedative in order to fix her up. She won't be leaving this place anytime soon." The others let our a breath they didn't know they were holding." You on the other hand need to get out of here. You need the fresh air, we all do. This will do us all some good."

"Alright." Tommy said, nodding his head in agreement. The others waited for Billy to change his clothing and then powered up into their ninjetti suits. "Ready guys?" The others nodded in response.

"I promise I won't tell anybody you guys are the power rangers."

"That's good to know. By the way, what's your name?"

"Dana. Dana Mitchell."

"Well Dana, it's nice to meet you. My name is Tommy. Aisha's the one in yellow, Billy's the one in blue, Rocky's the one in red, and Adam is the one in black."

"I've already looked up where she lives. I've se the coordinates to the teleportation program. We're set to go." Billy said.

"Alright then. Let's go." Tommy picked Dana up and all six teleported to Dana's house.

There was indeed a party going on, just as Dana said. There were pink streamers and balloons decorating the fence and tables in the backyard. There was a happy birthday sign on the top or the screen door leading into the kitchen. But instead of kids running around and parents talking amongst themselves, the adults were running around frantically searching for something, or someone. The children were all sitting in a circle at one table in the corner. Since they were all moving all over the place, no one really noticed the rangers' arrival. A man in his late twenties had just stepped out from the house, when he turned to the direction of the rangers' position.

"Daddy!" Dana cried as Tommy put her down. She ran towards the man, who barely had his arms out to catch Dana as she jumped on him.

"Dana!" He picked her up and hugged her, a few tears escaping his eyes. Right away, he put her down again and made sure that she wasn't hurt. Seeing that there were a few bruises on her arms, he made sure that it was nothing serious and then kissed her forehead. Everyone else stopped what they were doing, as father and daughter were reunited.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine daddy. The power rangers saved me. It was mostly the pink ranger, but they all did." She looked back the rangers and hung her head down, "It's my fault that she got hurt."

"What are you talking about sweetheart?" lifting her chin up with his hand.

"What Dana means is that our Pink ranger was hurt today. She was fighting a monster and didn't want Dana to get hurt. She blocked an attack that was directed towards Dana and got injured in the process." All Mr. Mitchell could do was stare. Everyone gasped when they heard what Tommy said and started whispering among themselves.

"I'm sorry sir, it's very nice to meet you. Due to these unfortunate events, our Pink ranger couldn't be here. But the rest of us have come to drop her off, per her insistence." Tommy stretched out his hand to shake Dana's father's hand. After a brief pause, he took Tommy's hand and shook it. He then offered his hand to the rest of the team.

"It's an honor to meet you all. My name is William Mitchell. Thank you so much for watching over Dana, as well as the entire city. We all owe you a great deal."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. And there are no worries, it is our job to protect this city and it's inhabitants."

"Thank you again. Would you like to stay for the party? I'm sure Dana would love it if you did." Dana nodded as her father asked the others.

"Yeah! Can you?"

"We would love to...but we have to get back to the command center. Under any other circumstances, we would have stayed but right now we should be heading back." Tommy said, noting that Dana was sad again.

"Okay." Dana said.

"But if you'd like, I'll personally come and pick you up as soon and she's better. Im very certain she'll want to see you."

"Really!?! Can I go daddy? Please?"

"Sure pumpkin. You can go."

"Yay!" Dana hugged her dad again.

"I hate to cut this short, but I really need to get back to check on her." Billy said, stating that they had been here for a while.

"Right. Dana, it was nice meeting you. Enjoy your party and I'll come get you as soon as I can okay?"

"Mhmm."

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Mitchell."

"The pleasure was all mine. Please call me William or Bill."

"No problem Bill." Shaking hands once more, Tommy and the others stepped back into the clearing and teleported back. Everyone there was too much in shock to do anything but stand there, frozen in place. After a few seconds, all the children came up to Dana, looking at her in awe. Slowly all the kids asked her what had happened.

"Since I wanted to go with Sarah to pick up some more candy, we went to the downtown area to get some of that really cool candy that changes colors in your mouth. We were leaving the store, when suddenly a bunch of putties attack. people were running everywhere and Sarah and I got separated. I didn't know what to do, so I hid under a table. The putties were coming after me. They wanted to take me away. But then the pink ranger shows up to save me..."

AN2: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying to do this as often as I can but right now I've been really busy with Academic Decathlon. We have scrimmage in 2 weeks and I really need to get a lot done by then. I will try to type up the chapters in my spare time. On the plus side, I have written 15 chapters out, so I just need to transfer them onto the computer and then update. Please take a moment to read and review! Thanks!

Nightlancer6000


	6. Chapter 6: Waiting

Important Author's note at the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot!

Chapter 6: Waiting

_Mmhm. Ugh. Where am I?_

"Kimberly? Kim, can you hear me?

_Billy?_

"Can you open you're eyes?"

_No. I'm so tired..._

"Kim, beautiful, stay awake."

_Tommy? I'm sorry. I can't...stay awake...ugh..._

"Let her sleep Tommy. It seems she is still not recuperated enough. She still needs plenty of rest."

"I know." Tommy looked to Kimberly before heading out the door. He walked down a hall and stepped into an elevator. Pressing the number 7, he waited patiently as the elevator took him down five floors. _Ding_. The doors opened and he stepped out onto another hallway and walked to the room at the end of it. Lifting the hand with his communicator, he put it in front of a black box. After the box scanned his communicator, the door opened and he stepped inside.

Alpha and Zordon, who had anticipated but wished it did not happen, prepared the command center incase something like Kim's situation. In secret, Zordon had expanded the command center downward. Comprised of seven floors, the command center was now fit to be an apartment complex. The first floor, the original command center, didn't change much. The only true addition, or rather revelation, was the elevator through which Tommy had carried Kim to the hospital ward, followed by Billy and Alpha. The second floor was the medical bay. Fully supplied to treat almost anything, Kimberly being treated here. The third floor consisted of a room full of training gear and supplies. There was even an indoor pool for the rangers. There were small mats for practice along with a ring for sparring. At opposite corners were small locker rooms for the rangers to change.

The fourth floor was the entertainment center, There was a built in movie theater, screen included, to watch movies or television. There were some arcade games and pinball machines too. There was a popcorn maker and a soda machine too. The floor below that was the guest floor. The entire floor contained fifteen rooms for guests. There were 10 guest bedrooms, which housed queen-sized beds and a small nightstand. There were four bathrooms and a small kitchen on that floor too, so as to accommodate everyone. The sixth floor was the hang out room. There were couches, beanbag chairs, a couple of loveseats, and coffee tables spread throughout the entire floor. Made up of an array of colors, the furniture consisted of different patterns. This floor was meant more for everyone hanging out and spending some time together. The nifty thing about this room was that with the press of a button, all the furniture rearranged it's self to make a makeshift conference room.

The last floor consisted of six rooms, one for every ranger, which was a mini-apartment. These rooms were much bigger than the guest rooms, as there were less people on the floor. Each room had its own bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room/kitchen area. The bedroom consisted of a king-size bed, a personal closet, an armoire, two nightstands and a small desk with a laptop. The bathroom had all of the bathroom essentials, with both a showerhead and a tub ╨ with doubled as a Jacuzzi. The kitchen had a small stove, a mini-fridge, and a small sink with 5 cupboards. The living room, where the desk was located, also had a loveseat, a coffee table and a reclining chair. All the rooms were connected with screen doors, much like those in Japan. And yet somehow, there was still room for them to walk.

Each ranger had a room like this, but Alpha had decided to leave the decorating to each individual ranger. Knowing they each had different tastes; the only colors Alpha used were the neutrals of brown and grey. Each room was painted in their respective color. Having been in the command center for half the day, Zordon told Alpha to lead the rangers to their rooms. Giving them a quick tour, Alpha walked into Kimberly's rooms to explain certain features to the rangers.

"There is a hidden panel in each room that contains important features." Displaying Kimberly's, he then continued to show and explain each button. "This one controls the lights. Because Eltarian power chargers run the command center, you don't need to worry about a blackout of any sort. The button next to it, you shouldn't need because it serves to activate the reserve power, just incase something goes wrong." The rangers nodded in understanding.

"These buttons pull down a screen that will work as your television/viewing globe. The top one is the one for your bedroom and the bottom button is for the living room." He explained the rest of the buttons and showed them what to press on the phones in order to make calls to the outside and well as within the command center. For all intents and purposes, the command center was now the rangers' second home.

It was now Saturday evening and each of the rangers was in their rooms. To their displeasure, Rita and Zedd had sent down monster after monster since Friday night. They had just returned from Dana's party when the alarms went off. Billy stayed behind to check on Kimberly. Soon though, Billy had to leave and help the others. It was non-stop fighting for a whole day. At the end of the latest battle, the media seemed to have noticed that one of the rangers was missing and decided to bombard them before the rangers could escape. After a swarm of putties had attacked downtown again, reporters rushed to surround the rangers. Light bulbs were flashing everywhere and they were all yelling at the same time.

"Rangers, where is the pink ranger?"

"Did she leave? If so why?"

"Was there a romantic spat between her and the red ranger?"

"How is the team holding up?"

"Who's going to replace her?"

"ENOUGH!" Tommy yelled. Instantly, the reporters stopped talking. "The pink ranger is out of commission until further notice. During the battle previously fought, she was injured very badly and is undergoing treatment. We do not know when she will be back on the field. This is all I can disclose at this moment."

This seemed to spurn the reporters out of their shock and once again all the commotion began.

"Where is the pink ranger?"

"Is she at Angel Grove Hospital right now?"

"How is she being treated?"

"How serious is her condition?"

"Will she survive?" Tommy hesitated. He couldn't say where she was being treated, but if he didn't say something the reporters would assume she was at Angel Grove Hospital. He didn't want other patients to be disturbed, so he came up with something he hoped would quell their curiousness.

"The pink ranger is being treated at our private facility in our headquarters. She is receiving the best medical care possible. As for her condition, I'll let the medical expert answer that." Tommy stepped aside and let Billy continue with the mini-press conference that was created.

"Currently the pink ranger is unconscious. She has sustained first-degree burns and a minor head injury. We do not know when she will wake up. But she will be out of commission for a few days. She also obtained some broken bones, which will slow her otherwise quick healing. This is all I can disclose for now. Thank you." The reporters were in a scribbling frenzy trying to get everything written down. They took a few more pictures before Rocky stepped up.

"If you will excuse us, we have to get back to our friend." The reporters, satisfied with their answer, stepped aside. The rangers formed a single line and teleported away together.

"Hello...is any one...th-there?" Kimberly's voice spoke for the first time in days. Her throat was dry, which made it hard to hear her voice. She tried again.

"H-hello?

"Kimberly? You're awake!" Billy came rushing over to her side.

"B-Billy?"

"It's me. Hold on, let me get you a cup of water." Billy left to the counter in the back of the room. He filled a cup with water and grabbed a bendy straw on his way back. He placed the cup and straw on the table next to her bed and helped her sit up. "Here, drink this." He put the straw in her mouth and held the cup for her. Kim drank it all in two big gulps. "Take it easy Kim, don't choke. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Well, aside from the aching I feel all over and not remembering what happened, I'm fine and dandy."

"I imagine so. Let me check you over. After a few tests, I'll let the others know you're awake."

"Okay" Kim drank some more water and let Billy run the necessary tests. It was a little while before he was done poking and prodding. Bringing her some soup and her choice of applesauce or pudding, Billy made sure that she was well fed before leaving to get the others.

The team was in the gym when Billy found them. Each was trying to deal with everything that was happening, and it seemed that the majority found comfort in exercising. Billy walked into the gym looking tired and worn out; nothing that a teenager should remotely resemble. He didn't' walk deep into the gym, watching his friends for a moment. After a while, he let out a sigh and walked to the center of the room.

"Guys, come here for a moment."

"What's up Billy?" Aisha asked, sitting up from her crunching position.

"It's Kim. She's awake." Billy watched a relief wash over everyone.

"How is she? Can we see her?" Tommy asked, ready to head to the hospital ward.

"Not yet. We're just waiting on a few test results. She's eating right now and she's still a little weak. I recommend that we let her rest for a little longer. She'll regain her strength in no time. In the mean time though, I think it would be a good idea to get Dana." They all nodded in both agreement of getting Dana and disappointment of not being able to see Kim, knowing what Billy said was true.

"I'll go get her." Tommy said, remembering his promise.

"Okay. Don't worry though, we'll wait until you get back so we can all see Kim together."

"Thanks Adam." Tommy clasped Adam's shoulder before powering up and teleporting out.

AN: Hey guys sorry for the loooooooooooong wait. I've been swamped with work for school. I promise now that I only have a month left, I'll be updating more frequently. Here's three chapters, just to make it up to you guys. I also want to thank my beta reader for helping me out and being so patient with me, so thanks Alana! Please R&R, thanks!


	7. Chapter 7: Meeting at Last

Disclaimer: I only own the plot!

Chapter 7: Meeting at Last

Dana and Mr. Mitchell were eating dinner when Tommy teleported into their living room. Deciding to not interrupt just yet, he took around their home. It had a very warm feel to it, which made him smile. He heard Dana and her dad talking in the kitchen and followed their voices.

"Mhmmm. This is really good daddy!"

"Thanks. It's a new recipe I got from a co-worker. It took a while to make, but it sure was worth it."

"Definitely. I think I might even eat seconds."

"Hehehe, now you sound like an ape I know." Tommy said, stepping out of the shadows. He walked into the kitchen, "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Tom - I mean, Falcon!" Dana shouted, pushing her chair back and running into his arms. She blushed a little bit, realizing that she had almost said his name. She gave him a big hug, which Tommy returned.

"Hey kiddo. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Is it time? Can I go?" Dana asked anxiously.

"Yeah. She's awake. Go get your stuff." Tommy put her on the floor and she dashed off into her room. As soon as she had closed the door, she had opened it coming out, this time with a small duffle bag.

"That was quick." Tommy said, his helmet hiding the smirk on his face.

"She's had that bad prepared since her birthday party. She waited until everyone was gone, then she came straight to her room and packed this. "

"Well then, if you're all set, let's go." Tommy offered his hand to Dana.

"Yay!" she eagerly took Tommy's hand and waited to teleport with him. Just as he was ready to go, she pulled on his arm, wanting to ask him a question.

"Falcon, can daddy come with us?" Tommy wondered for a second. "I don't think there's a problem with him joining us. Let me just tell the others. Guys, this is Falcon, come in."

"We read you Falcon, what's up?"

"Dana's father is coming along for the ride."

"Alright, no problem. We'll see you in a bit."

"Are you ready Mr. Mitchell?"

"Um, alright. I don't' see why not. Let's go." Dana smiled, taking his hand as well. She looked up at Tommy, signaling she was ready. Tommy nodded and teleported them to the main floor of the command center. The others were morphed and waiting for them. Katherine was there as well, even though she wasn't morphed. Aisha had gone to get her shortly after Tommy left to get Dana.

"Here we are, the command center. Mr. Mitchell, you remember the others."

"Hello everyone." The others responded with their hellos and walked to greet them.

"Hey man, she's waiting to see you." Adam said, standing next to Tommy after shaking Mr. Mitchell's hand and giving Dana a hug.

"Alright. But before we go, there are two things we should do. The first is introducing them to Alpha and Kat. Then you guys can decide whether or not to stay morphed." Adam nodded in understanding.

"Kat, come here. I want you to meet the Mitchells. This is William Mitchell, and his daughter Dana." Kat stood next to Tommy and shook Mr. Mitchell's hand as well.

"It's very nice to meet you sir."

"Likewise. This is my daughter Dana." Kat crouched down to meet her eye level. She offered her hand for Dana to shake. Dana was polite and shook her hand, but still felt a little nervous around the tall Australian blonde.

"Hi. My names Katherine, but you can call me Kat."

"Hi. I'm Dana."

"I also want you to meet one of our most important friends. He's an android and is incredibly smart. Alpha?" Tommy walked over to where Alpha was standing motionless.

"Hello Dana, it's nice to meet you."

"H-hello." Dana was amazed that she was talking to a robot. Her father too was amazed and all he could say was hello. Tommy went to stand by his teammates, and was ready to power down.

"I've decided to power down, seeing as how Kim will not be morphed. It's only fair that I do the same. The others will decide whether or not they will stay morphed. It is up to them. Power Down!" Tommy's white ranger suit faded away and was replaced by his civilian clothes. "My name is Thomas Oliver, but everyone calls me Tommy."

"Wow. You're so young. It's nice to see the face behind the mask. I'm glad to meet you." Mr. Mitchell said in awe. The other followed suit and unmorphed as well. Slowly, they were all in their civilian attire and in a line to introduce themselves to Dana's fathers. Aisha was first.

"My name's Aisha. It's nice to meet you. I'm the yellow ranger."

"I'm Adam, the black ranger. "

"Rocky's the name, red's the color."

"My name is William as well, but everyone just calls me Billy. I am the blue ranger."

"It's nice to meet all of you. It is an honor to know that such a fine group of young men and women protect our city." Kat, who had not been filled in completely, asked Billy about Kim's condition.

"How is she doing Billy?"

"She's doing well. She's been up for a few hours now."

"So Dana, how did you meet these guys?" Kat knew that unless something terrible had happened, not many people would be allowed to know the rangers' true identity.

"The pink ranger got hurt saving me." Dana looked down as she said this.

"You know, she was just doing her job. Anyone of these guys would have done the same thing. So don't worry about it and don't be sad. Besides, Kim's a really strong person. She always pulls through."

"I'm very sorry to interrupt, but Zordon has informed me that we can go see Kimberly now." Alpha stated, heading towards the elevator.

"Come on, let's go." Tommy took Dana's hand once more and the two lead the rest to the elevator. Once everyone was inside, Tommy told Dana to press the number two. She did and waited anxiously for the short ride to be over. She squeezed Tommy's hand as a sign of nervousness, and he squeezed back as well, but for different reasons than she did. They stepped out of the elevator and into a hallway with multiple doors on each side. All of them seemed to be unoccupied. The third door from the elevator on the left side of the hallway was the only one visibly occupied. They all gathered outside the door, still not visible to Kimberly. The entire group waited, letting Tommy go in first. Kimberly looked up in time to see Tommy head over to her bed. A big smile was on both their faces.

"Hey Handsome."

"Hello Beautiful. " Tommy enveloped her in a desperate hug. He needed to touch her physically, to make sure that she was alive and well, that he wouldn't lose her. They both seemed to have needed that reassurance because the stayed that way for sometime. "I was afraid I'd lost you. Please don't do that to me again, please." Tommy whispered into her ear. He cried silently into her shoulder, mostly from relief, but also because of how scared he was. Kim rubbed his back, letting out a few tears of her own.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'll always be here. You won't be able to get rid of me that easily." Kimberly said, placing her hands on his face and making him look into her eyes. She gave him a quick kiss and hugged him to her again. They stayed like that for a few moments, before Tommy let go of the hug, instead taking her hand into his.

"How are you feeling?"

"Alright. I'd be doing better if Billy hadn't done all those tests, but what can you do about it? My memory still seems to be a little bit fuzzy on exactly what happened." Kim said, shrugging.

"It's nothing a little rest and relaxation won't cure. As for the memory loss, maybe Dana can help you remember." Tommy said that last part a little louder, signaling for Dana to come in. The others decided to remain outside, allowing Dana and her father to go in and see Kim. Kim looked at Tommy quizzically.

"Dana? Who's that?" She looked at the little girl now entering the room and wondered who she was. Had her memory been affected so badly that she couldn't remember people in her life? Tommy motioned for the little girl to get closer, but Dana stopped a few feet from the foot of the bed. Dana still had her duffle bag in her hand, and waited to be told what to do.

"Hello. You must be Dana." Kim said, a smile on her face. She couldn't' understand why Dana seemed nervous to be there. Maybe it had something to do with being with the power rangers.

"It's okay. You can come closer." Tommy said, signaling Dana to sit on the bed with them. Dana did what she was told and got closer to Kim's bed.

"My name's Kimberly, but you can call me Kim."

"I'm Dana." she struggled to get the words out. She didn't know exactly what she should say, so she thought about what to say next. "I'm the little girl you saved."

Kimberly's eyes widened, realization finally hitting her. Up to this point, the little girl she was protecting had slipped her mind. Kim knew something was missing in this whole thing, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly, a rush of memories broke through the barriers, rushing at her all at once. She remembered the putties attacking the plaza, she remembered Zedd showing up and joining the attack, and she remembered how frightened Dana looked. The last thing she remembered was embracing the little girl to prevent Zedd's blast from hurting her, at the same time her friends yelling out her name.

After a moment, Kim came back to reality. She looked at Dana and inspected her. Physically, she seemed fine. Kim didn't see any really injuries or bruises. But emotion was another story. It was her eyes that gave Dana away. Those blue eyes were full of sorrow and anguish. Dana's eyes begged, pleaded for forgiveness. But there was nothing to forgive. But Kim did what she knew she had to.

"It's okay. There's no need for you to ask for forgiveness." Dana's eyes were wide in surprise. "I only did what I had to do. As a power ranger, it's my sole duty to protect Angel Grove and its citizens. Since you live here, it's my job to protect you. I get hurt all the time, so it would have happened even if you weren't there. I'm just glad I was able to reach you in time. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something had happened to you and you would have gotten hurt." Dana had let tears fall down her face by now and made no attempt to contain them.

"Hey, it's alright. Come here." Kim opened her arms and Dana took her hands. Tommy helped her climb the bed and then Dana crawled to Kim's side. She cried quietly as Kim held her. Kimberly repeated the same motions as she had with Tommy, soothing the little girl as much as possible. She looked up and Tommy and without a word, Tommy nodded and stood up.

"Why don't' we give Mr. Mitchell a tour of the command center. We'll take the time to answer the millions of questions running through his head." Tommy suggested, walking back outside. They all agreed and headed back to the elevator, giving Kim and Dana some alone time. Tommy looked back one last time to see that Kim still had Dana embraced. He knew things were going to be all right.

Both of them remained in the tight embrace for a little while, not saying anything or doing something to disturb the moment. Dana had stopped crying and was now content with being held.

"Thank you." Dana whispered in a low voice. Kim just looked down at her.

"For?"

"Saving me, and saying it wasn't my fault."

"Like I said, it's my job. But if it makes you feel better, you're welcome."

"It does. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How did you know?"

"How did I know what?"

"That I felt guilty."

"Your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"Yes, they looked so sad and full of guilt."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. A pretty little girl like you shouldn't have those eyes."

"Well, thank you again." Dana smiled and gave Kim another hug.

"You know, you're really mature for your age. Exactly how old are you?"

"I just turned six."

"Really, when?"

"Last week." Dana looked away again, which clued Kim in on when exactly she turned six.

"Oh well Happy late Birthday."

"Thanks." Both were unsure of what to do next. Luckily they were saved by the popping up of a screen at the foot of Kim's bed. The black background was gone in an instant, replaced with the face of a man.

"Hello Kimberly. I hope that you are doing well?"

"Yes Zordon I am. Thanks for asking."

"This is good news. Hello Dana, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Hello. Yes I am, very much so. Thank you sir."

"Kimberly, shall I inform the others that they can now return to your room?"

"Yes please, I would like that very much. Thank you Zordon." The screen that had appeared returned to its black background and lowered to where ever it had come from.

"Who was that?"

"That was Zordon. He is our mentor as well as our, creator, for the lack of a better word. More than that, he is a sort of father figure to me. Well…to all of us, but especially to me."

"Why? Don't you have a daddy?"

"Yes I do, but he doesn't live with me, so I don't really see him a lot. My parents didn't get along anymore and they divorced."

"Oh. My mom died when I was little. I don't really remember her that much. My daddy shows me pictures sometimes."

"That's good. I have a picture of my parents even though they aren't together anymore."

"That's good too." They were both silent, content with just being there with each other.

"The one good thing that came out of all of this is that I got to meet you."

"Yeah, same here. And even though I can't really tell anyone, that's okay because at least I know."

"True. And you'll see us around all the time. You can hang out with us whenever you want. On the plus side, you won't really need babysitters anymore. Now you'll have all of us to look after you."

"Really? Thanks!"

"That reminds me, I have something for you." Dana disentangled herself from Kim's arms and crawled to the foot of the bed. She searched through her duffle bag, going deeper and deeper into it. After a minute, she took what she was looking for, left the duffle bag where she got it, and crawled over to Kim again. She sat in front of Kim and handed her a card. "I made this for you."

Kim took the card and looked at the cover. It was Dana and her holding hands, while the other rangers were in the back with her father. Kim's eyes began to get misty as she opened the card. She read what was inside, which caused her to smile. Wiping her eyes, Kim gave Dana another big hug and thanked her for the card. They could hear the others coming, so Kim put the card under her pillow. She would put it someplace special when she got out of the medical ward. The group all came in this time, Tommy being the first one in. He took his spot next to Kim again, taking her hand in his. Rocky followed in exclaiming loudly,

"Kim!"

"Hey guys."

"You really scared us you know." Rocky said, hugging Kim tightly.

"I know." She hugged him back and he headed to the foot of the bed.

"Yeah Kim. Please don't do that to us again. Okay?" Adam said, hugging her as well.

"I'll try. I promise."

"You really had everyone worried. It's good to see you're better." Kat said, hugging her friend. Even though they hadn't known each other very long, they had formed a tight friendship.

"Affirmative. The progress you've made is phenomenal. Keep this up and you'll be out of here in no time."

"Thanks Billy. For everything." Kim hugged him back, enforcing her statement. Aisha was next, and she looked like she was going to beat Kim up.

"If you ever do that to us again, I'm gonna…" there was a moment of silence. Aisha couldn't think of a threat that would scare Kim enough not to do it again, so she settled for the typical "or else!" Kim chuckled and enveloped her friend in a hug. Aisha, wanting to demonstrate her seriousness, gave her a bear hug.

"A-aish-sha…can't…b-brea-the!" Kim tried to pry loose.

"That's what you get." Aisha kept the hold for a little longer before letting go of her. Content that Kim learned her lesson, Aisha stepped aside to let William through.

"Hello Kimberly, my name is William Mitchell. I'm Dana's father." He stuck his hand out.

"Nice to meet you sir, I'm Kimberly." She took his hand and shook it.

"I want to thank you for saving my daughter. She's the only thing I have left in this world. I will forever be grateful and in your debt."

"Like I told Dana, I was doing my job. I'm just glad I was able to reach her in time. You're in on the secret now. You're one of us. So don't' worry about anything. Like I told Dana, you know have seven people willing to baby-sit her. She can always hang out with us and that is enough for me."

"Thank you again. You will always have my gratitude and my friendship." Kimberly smiled, getting the feeling that this new friendship would be something that would last for many years to come. Once everyone was settled in, Kimberly sighed, taking everything in.

"In all this commotion, I don't' even know what time it is, or even what day."

"It's fifteen minutes to midnight, so it's almost Sunday." Adam said, looking at his watch.

"I've been out a whole day!" Kimberly couldn't believe it.

"Yeah. We thought you'd be out a lot longer." Billy responded.

They continued talking for another couple of minutes before one by one they began heading to their rooms to catch some much needed sleep. The only ones remaining in the room were Billy, Kat, William, Tommy, and Dana.

"I think it's time for me to get going. I have to get up early to go to work tomorrow. Well technically today." William said, letting out a yawn.

"It's kind of late. Why don't you stay in one of the guest quarters tonight? We'll make sure you get to work on time in the morning." Billy asked.

"Alright. I'll take you up on that offer."

"Excellent, I'll take you to your room. There are some clothes already there you can change into in order to sleep more comfortably. Come on. Good night guys, I'll see you in the morning Kim." William, Billy, and Kat all got up at the same time.

"I think I'm going to bed as well." Aisha had shown her to one of the guest rooms when she first got their, in order to leave her stuff and come wait with everyone else.

"Okay. Let me just get Dana and we'll leave." William said. Dana had fallen asleep between Tommy and Kimberly as one point and was now sleeping peacefully.

"That's okay. She can stay here with us. That way she won't have to be woken up." Kim said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it man. She can stay here." Tommy said.

"Okay. Thank you again." The rest of the visitors headed off to the elevator, hoping to get some well-deserved sleep tonight. Tommy made sure that both Dana and Kim were comfortable before going into the bathroom to change into some more comfortable clothes. He came back out and sat at the foot of the bed, watching Kim dose off.

"You should get some sleep handsome." Kim murmured.

"I will. I just want to watch you for a bit." Tommy watched as Kimberly was asleep before putting some chairs together to have a makeshift bed. Not wanting to make the bed crowded, he slept on the chairs, still holding Kim's hand in his. Pretty soon, all over the command center, everything was quiet and peaceful, its inhabitants getting a good night's sleep for the first time in days.

AN: Here's the second chapter of the three that were promised! Enjoy! R&R, thanks! And again, thanks to Alana for the help!


	8. Chapter 8: Back into Action

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Chapter 8: Back into Action

A blaring alarm filled the entire command center, causing all those who were asleep to wake up suddenly. Dana opened her eyes and saw that Kim and Tommy were already up."

"What's going on?" Dana asked, rubbing her eyes and then covering her ears.

"The alarm that signals a monster attack is going off." In minutes, the rest of the people, all in pajamas, came rushing into Kimberly's room. They all looked at each other and then at Kim. They all knew what the alarm meant and what they had to do.

"Go ahead guys, you know you have to." They all nodded, knowing that she was right.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

"The Bear!"

"The Ape!"

"The Frog!"

"The Wolf!"

"The Falcon!" They all powered up and teleported to the monster site.

"Go get'em!" Kim said under her breath as they teleported away. Soon after their teleportation, the alarms shut off. Only William, Kat, Dana, and Kim remained in that room. The screen that had popped from the foot of Kim's bed the day before showed up again, displaying Zordon's face.

"Good morning Kimberly, how are you feeling today?"

"Better this morning. Is it possible for me to go to the main floor of the command center?"

"I do not see a problem with that. Katherine, please accompany Kimberly." Kat nodded in agreement and went to help Kim.

"Let me just change." Kim went to the bathroom and changed into her civilian clothes. Kat then helped her to the elevator, William and Dana right behind them. They reached the main floor and stood in front of the viewing globe.

"Ay ya ya ya yai! Zedd has sent a new monster to attack the city! The rangers are fighting it as we speak." Alpha was panicking, pushing buttons everywhere.

"Hello Rangers. My name is Zeltron and I'm going to be your downfall!" Zeltron looked like a combination of The Thing from the Fantastic Four and a computer. He had a laser cannon as his right arm and a ruby red crystal right in the middle of his chest. The rangers launched repeated attacks on him, trying to defeat him as quickly as possible. Yet it seemed that none of these attacks phased Zeltron one bit. It looked as if Zeltron could read their minds, knowing which ranger was attacking with what and how. He was able to avoid any major damage, while inflicting it all on the rangers instead. He began firing his laser cannon at the rangers, laughing menacingly as he did.

"Hahaha…You cannot defeat me. My master has programmed me to defeat you by detecting your every move before you make it, and I will succeed. I know what you will do even before you do! With you missing one ranger, it will make it all the easier to defeat you."

"That's what you think! Let's get'em guys!" Tommy yelled. He ran full speed at Zeltron, hoping to knock him out. The rest followed him, getting his idea as well. They all attacked with their own specialties. But just like Zeltron had said, he blocked every move possible, instead hitting them with attacks of their own. The rangers took a few more hits before being tossed around like rag dolls. Zeltron managed to hit the rangers with a strong enough attack that he sent them flying a few feet into the air. They landed with a hard thud, losing their morph in the process. Now they were all completely defenseless. Without their morph, Kim and the rest of them could see that only Tommy and Billy remained conscious.

"This is the end of the power rangers! Hahahaha…"

In the command center, Kimberly and Katherine were panicking, trying to come up with something to help the rangers. Kim was pacing back and forth, not sure what to do and feeling helpless.

"I can't just stay here and do nothing!"

"No Kim. You're still hurt." Kat said, trying to reason with her. She understood what Kim was feeling, and knew what she was planning.

"Our friends are hurt and aren't even aware that they are in danger anymore. They are unmorphed and defenseless! I'm the only one that can do anything about it. I have to help them." Kat backed down, knowing Kim was right, even though she didn't agree with it.

"I'm fine and I won't sit here and watch our friends get hurt. I'm not backing down!" Kim was dead-set with going to fight Zeltron and the others could see there was nothing to stop her from going. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her communicator. She turned to Dana.

"Hey, I'll be back okay. If you need anything, just ask Zordon, Alpha, or Kat. Alpha's gonna take you and your dad to the entertainment center, alright?"

"Okay." Dana nodded, not wanting to argue with Kim right now. She knew that Kim didn't want her to see the fight and complied with her wishes.

"Kat, please watch over them. If something happens, Zordon will teleport us to the med bay. Alpha may need help there, so any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated."

"No problem. I'm not going anywhere."

"It's Morphin' Time! Ninja Ranger Power! The Crane!" Kim was enveloped in a pink light. The room shined brightly in pink, before changing back to normal. Kim was in her ranger uniform and was just about to teleport away when she noticed her suit was fading.

"Zordon, what's wrong with my suit?"

"Your morph is still hindered due to your fight with Zedd. You haven't fully recovered which adds to the problem. Unfortunately, it won't hold for much longer."

"Let me try something." Kim focused and placed her hands in front of her. Energy slowly radiated from her and her ranger suit transformed into her ninja suit. Making sure that her suit wasn't fading, she nodded to signal that everything was okay before teleporting away.

"You're useless rangers! You can't do anything to stop me!"

"Ugh…don't…be…ugh…so sure." Billy struggled.

"I'd like to see you try!" Zeltron aimed at the rangers, ready to shoot. "Positron Laser! Fire!"

Tommy and Billy closed their eyes, waiting for the blast to hit them. But it never did. Tommy opened his eyes to see Zeltron on the floor with someone else. The blast had been re-directed into the sky, causing it not to hit anywhere in the city.

"Who is that?" Billy asked. The person who knocked Zeltron down, got up and ran to them.

"K-Kim?" Tommy looked up to see them.

"Don't worry handsome, I've got you're back!" Kim kneeled down to check on the rest of the rangers, making sure that they weren't seriously hurt. She looks over Tommy and Billy again and heads off towards Zeltron, who was now up and confused about what happened. She made sure that there was enough distance between the fallen rangers and her. Kim charged at Zeltron full speed, taking advantage of Zeltron's confusion and attacked him non-stop. In the beginning, they fought hand-to-hand combat. Once he got his bearings, Zeltron attacked full force again. For a while, he has takes advantage of Kim's weakened state. Kim though, was still fighting hard and putting up a good fight.

Drawing her weapon, Kim began combining physical attacks with her bow and arrow. After fighting for what seemed forever to her, she gained the upper hand and delivered the final blow. There was a huge explosion as Kim made her way back to her teammates. Zedd, no wanting to let this golden opportunity escape, made Zeltron grow to into a huge size. He began wreaking havoc all over the city once more. By now, the other rangers had woken up, but were still not able to lend Kim any assistance what so ever.

"Zordon, I think I'm going to need the crane zord." Jumping into the cockpit of her zord, Kim maneuvered the crane zord much like a fighter jet, piloting her zord with grace and agility.

"You think that you can beat me with that puny zord?"

"Actually, yeah I do! Missiles! Fire!" The missiles hit Zeltron dead on but they didn't seem to faze him too much. Their fighting resembled a person trying to swat a fly unsuccessfully. After flying in circles in order to confuse Zeltron, she sent another set of missiles and laser attacks. Finally finding a weak spot, Kim took aim and fired once again. Zeltron fell in another big explosion, ending the battle once and for all. Kim landed the crane zord and watched as it flew back to the zord bay after she got out. She turned to find where the rangers were when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"Zedd…"Kimberly said in a low deadly growl. Zedd was heading over to the fallen rangers, not noticing that Kim was already on the ground. He had transported to the battle site right after the crane zord had flown away and hadn't seen Kim yet. She ran after him, hoping to reach her friends on time. But she was too late. Zedd fired his power staff at them, sending the rangers flying. Once again, they landed with a loud thud. This time though, all the rangers were knocked out cold.

"ZEDD!!" Kimberly yelled at the top of her lungs. Zedd turned around quickly, realizing that Kim was there. He tensed up once he felt the level of energy that was radiating off of Kimberly.

"You're still here. I thought you'd be dead by now!"

"It takes a lot more than your pathetic little monster to finish me off. Zordon, please teleport the others back to the command center. I have some business to take care of."

"It won't matter what Zordon will do to your friends. My attack was strong enough to wipe them all out forever. And by the looks of it, our previous encounter seemed to have left you in a considerably weakened state. You can't even keep on a full morph, having to settle for a flimsy ninja suit. You won't last another fight against me. Why don't' you go back to your friends. You're no match for me!" Zedd charged at Kimberly and inhuman speed, making sure that this time, he would destroy the pink ranger once and for all.

Kimberly was faster though and dodged the attack. She let him loose force and launched an all out attack against him. Kim struck him whenever she had a chance to injure him, which wasn't very often. Zedd was not that bad of a fighter either, standing well against Kimberly. They were evenly matched, even with Kim's faltering strength. Had she been able to maintain her ranger suit, Zedd would have been finished a long time ago.

After a while, both pulled away, catching their breath. They were panting and were very physically exhausted. Zedd called on his staff and fired a thunderbolt at Kimberly. She flew through the air but back flipped onto the ground while calling on her bow. Upon landing, she let loose a flurry of arrows at Zedd, hitting their mark. Zedd was wounded badly and started backing away. Knowing he wouldn't last much longer, he made a hasty retreat.

"Next time Kimberly, you won't be so lucky!"

"You're right. Next time, I'll make sure to finish you off." Kim stood tall and defiant as Zedd fled. Once he was gone, she fell on one knee, all of the attacks and exhaustion catching up to her. She couldn't breathe properly and began hyperventilating. Her ninja suit was beginning to fade as well, which was soaked in her sweat. After taking a few deep breaths, her lightheadedness began to go away. She pushed herself up and teleported back to the command center.

"Zordon, how are the others?"

"They are in the medical bay. Alpha, Kat, and William are seeing to their injuries. As of right now, they are all in stable conditions."

"Good." Kimberly breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, before I pass out, I have an answer to your question. I will accept our proposal. I am going to help you. I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Thank you Kimberly. I am glad you have accepted and you have my eternal gratitude." Neither of them realized that Katherine has just come out of the elevator and was headed back to see if the battle was over. She overheard the last part of their conversation unintentionally and kept quiet. She rushed out as Kimberly began to fall.

"Kim!" Kat got to her before she hit the ground. She checked her pulse to make sure that she was breathing and then laid her on the floor.

"Zordon, can you teleport her to her medical bay room? I won't be able to carry her all the way."

"Of course." Kat and Kim were enveloped in a pink light as Zordon teleported them to the infirmary, where Alpha and Kat got to work on Kimberly while William kept an eye on the other rangers. Zordon was not sure if Kat had overheard him and Kim speaking, but decided to not say anything, giving Kat the benefit of the doubt.

AN: Here you are, the last of the three chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed them. I promise to update soon. Thanks to all of you, especially Alan for the support and help. Please R&R, thanks.


	9. Chapter 9: DejaVu

Important Aurthor's Note at the end of the story!! **Thanks a lot to my beta Alana! She's been so patient with me, I can't think of anyone better for this job! Thanks a lot!!**

Enjoy

Chapter 9: De-ja-vu

Ugh…mhhh…where…am…wha…whoa. Kim slowly opened her eyes and adjusted to the light. Talk about de-ja-vu. Once her eyes were fully open and used to her surroundings, she noticed her vision was still a little fuzzy. Kim raised her hands to rub her eyes, but found that she could only raise her right arm. She searched for the reason of her immobility, when she saw Tommy's hand intertwined with hers. He was sitting in an awkward position on the chair next to her bed, the angle indicating that his ribs were injured bad enough that he could not sleep sitting up or lying down.

She looked around for a moment before her eyes wandered around the room. They widened as she surveyed her friends and how severely they were injured. Right behind Tommy was Adam, sitting against the wall on floor, his entire left arm bandaged. Next to him was Billy, who was lying flat on his back on the floor as well, displaying cuts that had required numerous stitches on both his arms, and smaller cuts and bruises on his face. Aisha and Katherine were sitting on chairs, leaning against each other, doubling as pillows for each other. Aisha's right hand was bandaged, along with her left ankle. Kim looked over her friends once more, and noticed that Rocky was not among them. She smiled and laughed to herself_, he's probably getting breakfast or some type of food._

Kim looked around the room and noticed that they were all cramped in the tiny med room she was in a few days ago. She would have to ask Zordon if it was possible to move to her own room if the team insisted on staying with her. It was while looking around the room that she noticed that, unlike last time, there was now a curtain that seemed to divide the room. She tried to reach the curtain, hoping to move it out of the way, but was too far away to do so.

"Damn!" suddenly the curtain began to move on its own. Kim reacted by jumping back a little. When the curtain was finally pulled back completely, Kim's eyes widened as she saw who was on the other side.

"Rocky!?" she said in surprise as she assessed his injuries.

"Hey Kim. Feeling better?"

"Much. You?"

"Back hurts a bit. But other than that, I'm okay." Kim wondered for a second why he, along with everyone else was injured, before remembering the fight against Zeltron. Zedd had managed to blast them for the second time, which caused Billy to land right on top of Rocky.

"What happened after Zeltron blasted us? I can't remember much of what happened or how I injured my back."

"You, along with Adam and Aisha were knocked out the second time Zedd blasted you. Billy happened to land right on top of you, breaking his fall. When I got there, Billy and Tommy were down but were still conscious. They blacked out soon after though."

"Oh. I see. Man, that's some back luck. So we were all knocked out by the time that – wait a minute! You were there? You fought against Zeltron!?"

"Yes."

"What!? Why!? You could have been hurt!"

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to wait until everyone is awake, so I won't have to repeat myself more than once."

"Alright, but you better tell us everything!"

"I promise."

"Okay." Rocky winced as he tried to sit up.

"You okay?"

"Uh huh. My back just hurts a little."

Rocky and Kim talked for a little while longer, Rocky explaining that Alpha had teleported William and Dana back to their house soon after they had been sent back to the command center. Zordon said that everything that had happened this weekend and anything that could happen once this battle finished would be too much for a six year old to handle. He voiced his concerns with William, who agreed completely. Before they were take home though, William helped Alpha in giving the rangers the medical attention they needed until Kim was taken to the infirmary.

The pair spoke briefly on what was going to happen with school until Rocky began to yawn and show signs of weariness. Soon, Rocky lost the fight against sleep and gladly slipped into the waiting slumber. Kim was left alone with her thoughts, which were slowly emerging from deep within her mind. She had so many questions running through her head, for a second she thought it might actually explode.

_What am I going to do? When is my training going to begin? And how am I going to tell Tommy? And what about the others? Who's gonna take my place? __**Is**__ someone gonna take my place? Argh…my head is starting to hurt_. Kim was so immersed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear when the door opened.

"Kimberly?" Alpha asked, noticing her far-off gaze.

"Huh…oh, Alpha. Hi. Sorry. I was just thinking about a couple of things."

"It's okay. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"You're not interrupting. Anyway, what's up?"

"Zordon wishes to speak to you in private."

"Okay. Just…uh…give me a second to change and I'll be right up." Kim said, starting to get out of bed.

"He does not wish to disturb you after such a battle. He has another method of communication he wished to employ."

"Okay. What is it?" Alpha gave Kim a bottle of water and some pills. She stared at him for a bit, before taking the pills and drinking more than half the water in the bottle.

"The pills will put you in a deep sleep for a few hours. Do not worry Kimberly; they will not affect your body in any way. This is the only way in which you and Zordon can speak freely while insuring complete privacy. They will also help heal you and have you prepared for school on Tuesday with the others. " Looking over the rangers, making sure that they were as comfortable as possible, Alpha left a sleepy Kim, who slowly succumbed to sleep.

"Why do I feel so lightheaded? And who turned off the lights?" Kim asked herself out loud. Suddenly, a light began to shine, brightening her surroundings. _Where am I? _She saw her surroundings slowly began to change into a beautiful field with an endless sea of green grass. A few yards from where she was located, a border was formed between the field and a dark green forest rich with vegetation. Kim could hear a waterfall in the far off distance of the forest, as well as the call of different birds and others animals both in the forest and in the field. She was completely surrounded by nature, and she couldn't think of a better place to be right at that moment. She noticed that the animals she was able to see were slightly larger than what she was used to.

"Welcome Kimberly.", a deep voice spoke behind her.

"Zordon?" Kimberly turned around to see if she could find her mentor.

"Do not be frightened."

"Where are we?" Kim saw a bright light appear a few feet in front of her. She could see a figure slowly emerging from the light. She was surprised and shocked to see that the figure approach her was actually Zordon.

"This is my home planet. Welcome to Eltar." Zordon was no longer just a floating head. Now he was a complete person.

"But…but…how?" Kim couldn't believe it; Zordon was here in person!

"What you see here," Zordon said, extending his arms to point out the scenery surrounding them, "is my home planet as I remember it. This is a memory of my life while I still lived on Eltar and before Rita encased me in a time warp. It has been years since I've been on my home planet; these are the last precious memories of it. What you see here is a combination of the two places where I felt most at peace and able to think. On your right are the Eltarian Glades; a never-ending field of grass. Described as the Living Desert due to its vegetation, the Eltarian Glades run for miles. Few have crossed the Glades in their entirety. I've been lucky enough to cross them twice while I lived here.

To your left is the Lumox Forest. The name is derived from the Latin words for light and darkness. In the center of the forest is the Everlasting Waterfall. The water there has properties that grant healing powers and a long life. Once again, only a few have made it out of the forest with knowledge of the waterfall. Only those of pure heart and spirit can find the waterfall."

Kim had never seen such beautiful places before. She was completely mesmerized by the tranquility and peacefulness of the area. _It would be amazing if I could visit these places one day._

Zordon seemed to read her mind because he answered her question. "I do not know whether both of these locations still remain in tact. I would hope so, but it has been long since I've heard news from Eltar.

The dimension in which we are located in is called Noitat Idem. What you desire to be present, will. For example, I often wish I to be in Eltar, so the memories which I hold dear, come to life in this plane. It is also why, here, I am not just a floating head. It is here that I often come to meditate and find ways of aiding you in your battles."

"This place is amazing. I am honored at the chance of seeing such a magnificent site. But my question is, how did I get here?"

"In order to find the Plain of Noitat Idem you must have mass amounts of kinetic energy and knowing that such a place as this exists. You must have a master who knows how to reach this plane and who knows the proper ways to teach the methods needed to get here. As time goes on and you're trained properly, accessing this plane becomes easier. The thing is that, though you use all of your senses here; in reality it is only occurring in your mind. Your physical body is in a deep state of sleep until you are reunited with it. Actually, your mind can remain here for many years while your body remains in a comatose state. This is not recommended though because the body is a physical being and will whither with time. If you're mind and body are out of synch for too long, it is likely that your body will reject your mind and deny entrance. As the body ages and begins to deteriorate, the mind eventually begins to disappear as well, eventually leading to your disappearance. Only those who have mastered the ability of transmission – being able to physically appear on this plane and bring others with them, know how to survive and there are very few who know how to do so."

"Can you do that?"

"That is the one thing which I did not master. I only obtained the ability to bring other minds here. The pills I had you take make you go into a very deep sleep. If you choose to, I will teach you to reach the necessary state of mind to come here without any pills."

"That would be amazing!"

"Very well. But for now, we must continue with more pressing matters."

"Okay."

"I asked you earlier if you were willing to help me. Because of the given circumstances in which you made your decision, you may not have fully grasped what you said. I will give you another chance, this time thinking clearly about your choice. I do not wish to burden you if you do not wish to help."

"That's very kind of you Zordon, but I was 100 sure when I gave you my answer. I had actually made up my mind before the whole battle with Zedd. I was going to tell you that night, but with everything that happened…" Kim trailed off, memories of everything flooding into her mind once more.

"There are a few things that I must ask you before I bestow certain things to you. There are three questions which you must answer." Kim looked a little nervous as Zordon said the last part.

"Do you choose to help me, Zordon of Eltar, out of your own free will?"

"Yes, I choose to help you of my own free will."

"Are you willing to give up your life in Angel Grove, your friends and family, for the greater good?"

"Yes, I am willing to do what needs to be done in order for the greater good to prevail, if it means leaving my friends and family in order to keep them safe, then so be it."

"Now, for the most important question of all: Kimberly Hart, are you willing to give your life in order for the greater good to prevail?" Kimberly didn't answer right away, the struggle evident in her eyes. A minute or so later, Kim looked up directly into Zordon's eyes and spoke.

"I, Kimberly Hart, knowing and willingly will give up my life in order for the greater good to succeed." Zordon showed no reaction when she spoke. He looked into her eyes and saw just how much Kimberly had grown as a person. He formed a small smile, evidently proud of Kimberly for making this difficult choice.

"Thank you Kimberly. Before we continue, let me just say how proud I am of you. I know that this is something that is hard for you to choose, simply because of all the difficult times ahead. I appreciate all the sacrifices that you are about to make and those that you already have. I will forever be grateful to you. Kimberly, you are an amazing Power Ranger, but more than that, you are a kind and wonderful human being, I have seen you grow in these past few years, from a confused teenager into an assertive and confident young woman."

"Zordon…" Kimberly whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"I have seen all of you grow and mature. You have all become more than just my rangers. I see you as my children. It was you Kimberly that made me whole again. It is in hoping you accept that I ask you my most important question: Kimberly Anne Hart, it is with immense honor and grand privilege that I ask you to become my one true and only heir."

"Didn't you already ask me that with the whole prophesy thing?"

"Yes I did ask that already. But when I asked for your help and for you to become my heir, it was for the sake of the team; for them to have a leader once I am gone. What I just asked you is more than that. I ask you to become my one true heir by accepting me as your father and for us to become family in blood."

**AN: Hi guys! I am so sorry for the long delay in posting a chapter. I've been so busy these past few months with AP Exams, Graduation, and the summer program I'm doing before starting college in the fall. I'm hoping to post up another chapter within 2 weeks, but I won't make any promises. I hope you guys liked this chapter, please review!!**

** - Nightlancer6000**


	10. Chapter 10: Father Dearest

**AN: Hey all. Sorry for the delay. Things have been really crazy lately, especially since it's my first year of college! I know that I haven't updated in a while, so I decided to post a chapter this weekend, since it was mid semester break. I hope that you are all still following this story. Enough about my babbling. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Thank you so much to Alana for being my beta. Her patience allows me to feel better about not producing more chapters! Thanks again!**

Chapter 10: Father Dearest

Kimberly was in shock. _Did I just hear right? Zordon of Eltar, all-powerful being, wants to adopt __**me**__?_

"Would you like for me to explain why?" Kimberly didn't trust herself to speak, so she only nodded in response. "It all began shortly after Tommy joined the team. After seeing all of you try to deal with what was happening, I saw just how much you and Jason had grown. I also saw that it was you that was holding the team together. Yes Kimberly, you are the heart of the team." Zordon beamed in pride as Kimberly stood there, not exactly sure how to respond.

"To be honest with you, I wasn't exactly sure how you were going to turn out in terms of being a ranger. I remember that in the beginning you were mostly worried about having helmet hair, instead of focusing on how to be a ranger." Kim groaned inwardly, blushing as she remembered saying that line to Zordon on the first day of her ranger duties. "But look at you now and look at how much you've grown. You are now wiser and more aware of your surroundings and those around you than before. You're a remarkable young woman now. But, while all these reason are vital, the most important reason why I chose you to be my heir as well as my daughter is because you opened up a part of me that I thought had died long ago.

It was you Kimberly that allowed me to feel the love of a father for a child. The way you are, your caring nature towards others, is what allowed me to learn to see and learn to love all of you as my children. And for that, I thank you."

Kimberly by this point was letting tears fall down her face freely. Zordon's speech had touched her on a very deep level. Shortly after becoming a ranger, she began to see Zordon as a father in place of her own. Often times she thought that he had been sent to guide her and watch over her, doing everything that her real father never did.

"Thank you. You have also given me a wonderful gift. And I will always be grateful to you for that. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me…dad."

Zordon smiled upon hearing Kim's response. For the first time since the death of his family, the great Zordon of Eltar, shed tears. There was a brief moment of silence as everyone, including Alpha, got hold of themselves.

"Now to make all of this official." Zordon turned to face Alpha, "Alpha, can you please get the vile and dagger. Kimberly, if you would please take the dagger and place the tip on your palm" Kim took the dagger, which was silver with a gold encrusted hilt, and did as she was told.

"I, Zordon of Eltar, choose and accept Kimberly Ann Hart, as my heir and successor. I welcome her into my family, and accept her as my daughter. Kimberly, please take the dagger and make a small cut on your palm. Alpha, please hand her the vile." Alpha handed Kim a vile that contained a clear liquid. "You must mix your blood with mine. Please pour a few drops on your palm and hand the vile back to Alpha. Then close your eyes and turn your hand into a fist." Kim did as she was told and poured a couple of drops on her palm. After handing the vile back to Alpha, she noticed that the blood mixture was slowly stopping the bleeding in her palm before closing her eyes.

"Kimberly, you have willingly mixed our bloods, thus you are now a part of me and I am a part of you. You are now welcomed into my family and my lineage. You are now blood of my blood, spirit of my spirit, and mind of my mind. You are now mine to protect and cherish as any father would, which I will do until my last breath. Kimberly Ann Hart I now declare you my sole heir to the Eltarian Throne. As of this moment, you are now acting Head of the Eltarian High Council and Head Priestess of the Order of the Morphin Masters.

But most importantly, you are now my daughter. Know that I will always love and protect you until the day I am no more." Zordon proceeded to chant something in a different language. The chanting, which lasted a few minutes, made Zordon and Kim glow in their respective colors. Once he finished, Kim was engulfed in silver and black lights as well. When the light show died down, Kim was no longer wearing her normal clothing,

"This is my gift to you Kimberly. This is the traditional dressing of my family. It is a mixture of Eltarian and Morphin Master uniform. I hope that it is to your liking."

Kim was wearing amazing clothes. She was wearing a skintight long sleeve black shirt, with a white shirt over that. A vest followed this with intricate pink patterns along the trims. The material this part of her clothing ensemble looked so delicate, yet she knew that this was hardly the case. The material looked flimsy, yet it seemed to keep her comfortable temperature and weight wise. Her pants were black, with the same pink trim on the waist and bottom of them. She had a black cloak on, which was large enough to cover her from head to toe. Her boots were done Ninjetti style, which made her fast and agile on her feet.

Yet, even after all that, the one thing that caught her attention was the pair of silver bracelets on her wrists. Each bracelet went from the wrist to half way below the elbow. Each bracelet had a unique set of animals. The left bracelet had a T-Rex, Mastodon, Saber tooth Tiger, and Triceratops along the top; a Red Dragon, Unicorn, Lion, and Griffin along the bottom. The right bracelet had an Ape, Bear, Wolf, and Frog along the top; a Pterodactyl, Dragon, Firebird, and Tiger along the bottom. The one thing these bracelets shared was a Crane and Falcon who encircled a phoenix. The rest of the space in between the top and bottom of the bracelets was decorated with the same patters of her trim. Like the emblem on her bracelets, Kim also had a necklace in the same form.

"Because your morpher was fused with your wrists after your fight with Zedd, Billy and Alpha were not able to remove it. I had Alpha create these for you. They are made from an almost impenetrable metal from Eltar. These bracelets will help you access your powers and will act as your communicator. The necklace you have is a tracking device; the crane and falcon can be removed, with the phoenix used as a base. "

"This is…amazing. I love it. You mean this is what they wear in Eltar?"

"Yes,. One day, when all of this is over, I will take you there personally, and introduce you to its people. As I said, you are now the next in line to the throne. Once I am no longer here, you will take my place and govern Eltar as it should." Kim couldn't believe it. For so long she and Tommy had thought of each other as a princess and knight, but now it was true. "But before that happens, I will teach you all about our customs and traditions, as well as train you in the way of the Morphin Masters. This way, no one can contend your right. The day I can introduce you to the High Council, the Masters, and all of Eltar will be the proudest day of my life."

"Thank you. I can say with all my heart that I look forward to that day. I will be just as proud, standing beside you as your daughter."

"What you are wearing will also serve as your ninjetti suit. You will have the option to change between this suit and your pink Crane ninjetti suit. Most people on Eltar practice the art of the ninjetti, but few actually become warriors. Usually, they use suits like yours when practicing, but only those that are ninjetti warriors wear them at all times. For now, your ranger suit will not change, although it is much stronger now than before. In time, as you get stronger and more knowledgeable in the way of the ninjetti, your suit will reflect what you have learned."

"Which suit should I use when I fight?"

"That is up to you."

"So, do I tell the others about this, or do I keep quiet?"

"Again, that is up to you."

"I think that I'll tell them as soon as it's the appropriate time."

"Very well. I think that I have kept you here long enough. I will send you back myself. You should wake up soon after your mind and body merge together once more. For now, let Alpha know when you would like to come back here and he will give you the necessary items. Over time, I will teach you how to get here without the use of the pills. I will speak to the others about your status as soon as you wake up."

"Okay."

"Now, close your eyes and relax." Kimberly closed her eyes, and after a few moments, she began to feel light headed. Soon she felt as if she were floating in mid-air. She felt herself get drowsy; her eyelids feeling heavy until she couldn't leave them open anymore. She decided not to fight it and gave in to the exhaustion.

_Meanwhile, back in the Command Center_

All the rangers were still sleeping in the same positions. The room was quiet and still. Kimberly was still not fully connected to her body, causing her hand to twitch. Tommy, who was still holding her hand, felt the movement and stirred in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to check if Kim was awake.

"Kim?" he asked aloud groggily. He wasn't fully awake and he felt sore from sleeping in the same position for too long, so he got up to stretch. He let go of Kim's hand and raised his hands over his head. Letting out a silent yawn, he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleep.

"Hey, Kim?" Now that he was fully awake, he looked in her direction, only to be shocked by what he saw. There in front of him, floating a few feet above the bed, was Kimberly, surrounded in a glowing pink light.

**Hope you guys liked it. Please read and review!**

**Nightlancer6000**


	11. Chapter 11: Mysterious Arrival

**AN: Hey all, sorry for the lack of updates. With my first semester of college flying by, it's been hard to do anything but work and school. Anyway…I took advantage of an opening to type this chapter up. I hope you enjoy it, especially since it is a double chapter! Well, more like a full chapter and half of another. I hope you guys like it. And please remember: Read and Review!**

**Thanks to Alana for her Beta services. You would all suffer from great grammatical and spelling stress if it weren't for her!**

**Chapter 11: Mysterious Arrival**

Tommy couldn't comprehend what was happening in that small room. He was frozen in place, unable to move, unable to talk. His eye could do nothing but dart back and forth from Kim to the others, almost as if willing them to wake up. Finally, after what seemed to be forever, he jumped out of his seat. He stretched his arm as far as he could, hoping to reach Kim. But, before he could even get his hands on her again, something blocked his attempt.

"Alpha! Zordon!" Tommy yelled, running towards the door. He reached the entrance and yelled once again down the corridor. This time, having yelled with all his might, Tommy managed to wake up Rocky.

"Hey Tommy, what's going on? Stop yelling." Rocky said, yawning and turning to his side, now facing Kim. He closed his eyes, hoping that he could still get some sleep. _Mmmm. Maybe I can sleep for a little while longer before eating some breakfast. Good night.. Is Kim glowing pink? That's nice…_Just as quickly as he had drifted off; Rocky has his eyes open again. He could only stare as Kimberly floated near the ceiling, her whole body surrounded by a pink aura.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. Zordon isn't answering, but Alpha's on his way." Tommy said, entering the room and rushing to Kim's side.

All the commotion has begun to stir the others awake as well.

"Tommy?" Billy asked. He was the first of the others to wake up. He saw Tommy's pale face and immediately he was alert. Seeing how tense Rocky was didn't help ease him either. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I woke up and saw Kim like this. I can't reach her." Tommy said, running his hand through his hair, his patience running thin. The rest woke up soon after, all asking the same question over and over again. This time, Billy answered, knowing that Tommy was close to snapping.

"There's got to be a logical explanation for this." Adam voiced. He was about to say something when Alpha walked through the door. Right away, they all began asking him what was wrong with Kim. Alpha had to speak louder than usual in order to get their attention.

"Settle down, please!" waiting until the rangers did what they were told, Alpha walked over to Kimberly's side. "Do not worry rangers. There is nothing wrong with Kimberly. The reason for her current condition is that Zordon is healing her. That is the reason why Zordon did not answer your call Tommy." Looking over Kimberly's vitals, Alpha gave a once over to the rest of the rangers to make sure all was in order before heading back out. "Excuse me, but I must return to Zordon. This process takes a lot out of him and I am needed to make sure that he does not over exert himself." With those words, Alpha left the room and headed towards the elevator once more.

Everyone seemed appeased by Alpha's answer, everyone that is except Tommy. While he did believe what Alpha said, Tommy still thought that Kim glowing pink and floating in mid air was normal. All of them had questions running through their minds; mostly how Zordon was able to do this and when would Kim wake up. They thought better of it and decided not to ask them, instead grateful that Kimberly was going to get better sooner rather than later. Adam and Billy walked out to the hall and were gone for a few minutes. When they came back, they had chairs for everyone to sit in. They pushed Rocky's bed close to Kim's and they formed a circle around both of their teammates. Everyone was clam again, and they settled into a peaceful watch group, waiting for Kim to wake up. Suddenly the alarms went off. The rangers stood up and started heading out. The only who stayed put was Tommy. He didn't budge from his spot next to Kim's bed.

"Tommy, come on man, we have to go." Adam said, the others turning to see why Adam said that. They saw him staring intently at Kim, who was now only a few inches above the bed. Aisha walked over to him and spoke. "Tommy, we need to go."

"No. I'm staying here with Kim." Tommy said forcefully, refusing to take his eyes off of Kimberly.

"Tommy, we need you out there." Adam said, trying once more to appeal to Tommy's responsible side.

Kat, getting angry at how Tommy was behaving walked to towards him, making Aisha move next to Adam. "Tommy. Tommy, look at me. Look at me!" Her Australian accent was really coming out, forcing Tommy to break eye contact with Kim. He glared at her as she spoke to him, "Tommy, if Kim were awake, you know she would scold you senseless and then make you leave this room. Now, if you get up and do your ranger duties, I _will _let Kim know what happened. And I _know_ you don't want to face her wrath, especially when it concerns your responsibilities as rangers." Kat spoke with such force and such determination that Kim would be proud of how she handled the situation. She knew that the rangers' job was to protect the citizens of Angel Grove. While she wanted to help them in any way she could, she knew that right now, she would only get in the way, especially with one of the rangers down. Instead, she was satisfied knowing that she could watch them safely from the command center and help out there if she was needed.

Tommy's glare intensified, this time letting the others see his expression. Kat was still his target, giving her the worst possible look he could muster. He resented Kat for the comment she made. Nevertheless, he stood up and started heading out the door, never directing a word to his friends.

"Tom-" Billy tried to say, as Tommy was walking by him, reaching out to grasp his shoulder,

"Don't." Tommy snapped at the blue ranger. He shrugged off Billy's attempt to reason with him, instead looking at Kim one last time before heading out. The others followed reluctantly, knowing that this was going to be far from over.

Making sure that everyone, except Rocky was gone, Kim opened her eyes. Kim had heard the entire conversation and was none to pleased with Tommy's behavior. She was going to have to have a serious talk with him after this battle. She closed her eyes again, as Rocky called Alpha, hoping to find some way to watch the battle. Alpha teleported him bed and all, to the first floor to watch the viewing globe with Kat.

Once she was alone, Kim sat up. She wanted to talk to Zordon but couldn't use her communicator because Kat and Rocky were with him.

_Dad_

_Yes Kimberly?_

_What the…how am I talking to you?_

_I seem to have forgotten to mention the powers that you have inherited._

_That would have been a useful piece of information._

_We shall get together again after this so that I can explain further._

_Yes we will. But, more importantly, is there anyway that I can join the battle?_

_If you feel you must. I must advise against this though, seeing as how you are still not fully healed._

_Thanks for your concern dad, but I can handle this. I'll only get involved if the others seem unable to handle the situation._ Kim got up and grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. As she changed she felt, for the first time since the accident, the scar running from the base of her neck, down her back, ending just above her right hip. Snapping out of her trance, she finished getting dressed and headed towards the elevator.

_Wait a minute Kimberly_. Kim jumped, startled at the voice in her head. She would have to get used to Zordon doing that as well as doing it herself.

_What's the matter?_

_The rangers seem to be doing well against Zedd's latest monster. _

_Is there anyway I can join you on the main floor without being seen?_

_Yes, but it will be tricky. You must concentrate your mind; focus on blending in with your surroundings. This task is complex and is almost impossible to accomplish without practice_. Kimberly nodded her head in understanding and closed her eyes. She focused on trying to become part of her surroundings. _Blend in! Blend in! _Slowly, she could feel her body change, adapt to her surroundings. Not sure if she was successful, Kim turned to look at her reflection on the metal door, but could only see the wall opposite the door. _Yes! It worked!_

Well-done Kimberly.

Thank you. Kimberly headed to the main floor; ready to jump into action if she was needed.

Kat stood next to Rocky's bed, watching as the battle progressed. The rangers had steadily started to loose the battle. Next to her, Alpha was pacing back and forth, not exactly sure of what to do next. Not aware that there was a 4th person in the room, Kat turned to Zordon.

"Zordon, they need help!" she cried out.

"Do not worry Katherine. Help is on the way." Kimberly, you are needed. Go and help the others, but stay safe. Taking that as her cue, Kimberly nodded, and stepped away from the group of spectators. Making sure that she maintained her stealth, she ran outside and teleported to the heart of the battle.

Landing in an alleyway next to the battle, Kimberly watched as her friends were being taken down one by one. She didn't know whether or not she should morph. Hearing as Aisha was tossed around like a rag doll, Kim decided it would be better to morph and try out her new suit. Making sure she was out of sight, she executed her morph.

"Eltarian Ninjetti! The Crane!" Kimberly was engulfed in silver, black, black and pink light. A new surge of power ran through her body, making her feel nearly invincible against the odds. Once the morph was complete, Kim saw that she did not don her usual power suit, instead wearing a brand new ninja power suit. Unlike her usual ninjetti morph, this suit was a combination of pink and black, with small silver patterns similar to her Eltarian clothing. Billy's yell brought her back to reality. Making sure that her face could not be seen, she headed into battle.

Hey, leave them alone! Kim wanted to yell, but thought better of it since her voice might be recognized.

"Who said that!?! Who's there!?!" Metaltron yelled out, turning in every direction to try and find the person who said that. Kim smirked, realizing she was still invisible. Kim liked her new powers.

I did. Kim dropped her camouflage and ran up to the monster, kicking him in the chest. Metaltron fell to the ground in pain as the kick connected with his body. Slowly he got up and stared at the mysterious new ranger. Not happy with what happened, he ran at Kim full force, ready to kick the living daylights out of her.

A fight ensued, with blows being exchanged by both parties. The other rangers could only watch these occurrences transpire. While Metaltron was more focused on throwing punches and kicks instead of actually _hitting _Kim, she was fighting with a majestic grace while landing hit after hit. After a few minutes, she had substantially weakened him; she called on her new weapon.

_Fire Bow!_ A bow, similar to her Power Bow, appeared in her hands. A bit smaller, it's shape curved to fit her arms and hands perfectly. Mostly black, the edges having been carved in the same pattern as her suit and tinted in pink and silver. As soon as she took aim at Metaltron, an arrow materialized in place, ready to be fired. The arrow itself was white, the tip a vibrant pink.

_Time to end this._ Taking aim once more, she pulled the arrow back. Targeting Metaltron's chest, she let go of the arrow. It closed the gap between her and Metaltron within seconds. As it made its way to its target, the arrow was engulfed in pink and black flames. The arrow hit its target dead on. Metaltron never saw it coming, blowing up into pieces before uttering a single sound. Kimberly had a smile on her face. She liked this weapon. She would have to thank her father when she got back for all the cool stuff he gave her.

Zedd, much to Kimberly's chagrin, made his monster grow to the size of the buildings. Taking this as her cue to leave, Kim turned towards the other rangers to make sure that they were okay. _I'll let the others handle this_. Glad that they were okay, she nodded her head and disappeared. The other rangers, who had just stood their and watched as this new comer had handled Metaltron without any problems, accepted her nod and called for their zords. The battle didn't last much longer, as the rangers quickly destroyed Metaltron before calling it a day.

The rangers were still in shock as they arrived at the command center. They all wanted answers. Who was this mysterious new ranger? Who or where did they get their power from? Zordon had never mentioned another ranger before. They all landed in front of Kat and Rocky, everyone except Tommy looked around, hoping to see this new ranger. Tommy headed straight for the elevator, hoping that Kim was awake. Before he could get there though, Zordon spoke to them.

"Rangers, if you could please wait a few moments before going to see Kimberly, I know you want some answers." Tommy began to protest before deciding against it. He did not feel like having the others reprimand him for defying Zordon. Tommy just stood where he was, his arms crossed around his chest.

"Zordon, who was that?" Aisha asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes Zordon, even from here, I couldn't tell who it was." Kat said.

"I ask that all of you be patient. Like I told you Kat, I sent the rangers a bit of help. This new ranger is a not an enemy, but a friend."

"But who is it?" Billy asked. He was curious as to who was behind the helmet and the technology behind the power.

Do you mean me? Kimberly communicated telepathically, altering her voice to make sure the others didn't recognize her. The rangers got into a fighting stance, looking to see where the voice came from.

"Please rangers. She will not harm you, she is a one of us." The rangers complied with Zordon's request, trusting what he said. They still held some tension as they looked around the command center, trying to find the person who spoke to them. Slowly, Kim shimmered away her stealth, emerging from the shadows right below Zordon's energy tube. The rangers gasped as she appeared out of not where.

"Rangers it is time you learned the truth." Zordon paused, beaming with pride as he looked at Kim and how powerful she truly was. The others looked confused, not understanding what Zordon meant. "This is my daughter", gasps filed the room as they took in the news.

"Since when did you have a daughter?" Tommy asked, taking this opportunity to attack Zordon for not allowing him to be with Kim. The others were taken by surprise as Tommy spoke. Though they nodded in agreement with Tommy's question, they didn't like that his tone was one of anger. "When were you going to tell us that there were other rangers?" Tommy spat, his anger reaching its peak.

Zordon was about to answer his questions when Kim stepped forward. _Silence! What is the matter with you!?! Why are you behaving this way towards Zordon? Especially you Tommy?_ Everyone was silent as Kim spoke. _Where is the respect that Zordon deserves?_ Kim couldn't believe them. What happened that they were so apprehensive and hostile towards Zordon?

_I am sorry father. Perhaps it would be best if I leave. This atmosphere is too hostile. I shall speak to you in private once I have returned from running an errand. I'll take my leave as soon as I have regained my strength. Alpha_, Kim turned towards the android, _please take the pills to my quarters. Father, I shall see you in a weeks' time. May the power be with you._

_And with you my child._ With that, Kim looked once more at her teammates and disappeared back into the shadows. She headed back to her room, changing and getting comfortable in her bed before the others showed up. She also needed some time to mask her disappointment.

"She has a room here!?!" Tommy was ready to explode. _How dare she come in here and strut around like she was the boss!?!_

"Tommy, please calm down. You are not thinking clearly and are emotionally vulnerable at the moment." Zordon faced the rest of the rangers, showing no emotion as he talked to them. "All of you, please go to your rooms and rest. You have not yet fully recovered from the previous battle and are weary from this one. You need to get your strength back in order to proceed with your daily routines. Please do not go to the medical ward. Kimberly has been transferred to her room and Rocky will be moved to his own room as well. Try and get some rest. It has been a long day, a long weekend, and you all deserve a break. To ensure that Kimberly get's her rest as well, I have locked her room."

"You can't do that!' Tommy shouted.

"Tommy, " Zordon spoke, his voice becoming stern, yet still remaining calm, "do not force me to pull rank. Right now, you are unable to see reason. If I have to force you to relax, then I will. Right now, what matters most to me is the health of every one of you. I will do what I need to in order to ensure that your health is at its prime." Zordon kept his cool while speaking to Tommy.

"Fine!" Tommy stormed off, seething at what Zordon had just said. The others followed Tommy, not sure of what to say, and understanding their mentor's concerns. They were all tired and wanted to get some rest, but at the same time they were unsure of how much they would get with Tommy on the warpath.

**That's it for today folks. I hope you liked it. I'll probably update in a few weeks, during my Thanksgiving break, since I won't be going home. I'll treat you guys to maybe one or two updates during those days. Hope this story finds all of you well and in good health!**

**Nightlancer6000**


	12. Chapter 12: Team Talk

**AN: Hey guys. Sorry about the long wait. I know that I promised to update soon, but life got in the way. I'm hopeful though because school is almost done, then I'll have 3 months to work on this story the way it deserves. Hopefully I'll update at least once more before finals, but I make no promises!**

**Thanks to Alana for doing me the favor of being my beta! If this is a smooth reading for you guys, it's because of her! Thanks!**

**Chapter 12: Team Talk**

It was Sunday evening. The rangers were all in different areas of the Command Center, enjoying their last day off before heading back to school. Aisha and Kat were in Aisha's room talking about what had happened the past few days. Adam was talking with Rocky, letting him know of all the stuff he had missed while he was unconscious. Billy was working on some stuff in his room computer, and Tommy was sparring alone on the exercise floor.

Kimberly was currently speaking with Zordon in Noitat Idem, discussing the different powers, which she now possessed.

"In time you will be able to do many things Kimberly. Some of the earlier powers to appear will be telepathy, invisibility, telekinesis, and levitation. There will be others, but those require the mastery of the basics. Right now I just want to focus on these four." Kimberly nodded her head, absorbing all of the information. "Now, I've noticed that you have developed a strong telepathic link. As you found out earlier, you can change many aspects of yourself when you are communicating telepathically. All you need to do is focus on what you want to change and so you shall. You will be able to communicate with individual people, as well as small groups. The more you practice and the stronger you get, the group you will be communicating with will be larger.

Invisibility also seems to come naturally to you. You already understand what you need to blend in with your surroundings. Both of these feats are hard to accomplish, as it takes many weeks just to discipline the mind. But you have managed to do this in just a few hours. You truly are a very powerful ranger. I could not have picked a better person to be my heir."

Kim smiled at Zordon. "Thank you. I promise I'll make you proud."

"I know you will. But now we must focus on you learning to control all of your powers. To do this, we must learn your limitations. All of your powers require energy that comes from you."

"But how is it possible that for me to use my powers for more than a couple of hours at a time? I mean a human body can only have so much energy right?"

"You are correct in that your body has a limit to the amount of energy it contains. However, there is energy anywhere that there is life. Your powers work when the energy being inputted comes from you, but you are allowed to borrow energy from your surroundings. As long as the energy borrowed goes through you into your powers you will be fine. And as long as the borrowed energy is returned."

"How would you return energy?"

"I will teach you how to borrow energy from your surrounding and return it as your lessons progress. First you must learn how to use the energy from your own self. Contrary to popular belief, the human body and the human spirit have a large energy reserve. But because most humans don't have powers, these reserves are not used. You must work hard and learn just how much energy you posses in order for you not to drain yourself completely. I do not wish for you to get hurt."

"I know. Hey Zordon, can I ask you a question."

"What is it?"

"Can you teach me how to get here? I mean, I don't mind using the pills, but taking them is getting a little bit annoying. And I don't want someone mistake them for medicine by accident if they find them in my room."

"Very well. It really is not too difficult. All you need to do is focus on where you wish to go. It is a form of astral projection. As your powers grow and you learn more about this plane, you will find yourself better acquainted with ways of arriving here."

"Ok. I guess all I can do is practice and get better." Kimberly took a deep breath and mentally prepared for what was coming next. "Zordon, could you call the others and send them to my room. I want to speak to them."

Zordon, knowing what she was going to do, merely nodded his head. "Very well." He began the process of returning Kim to her body. Once Kim was adjusted, she changed back into her pajamas and got settled into bed.

"Rangers, please come to Kimberly's room at once." Zordon's voice rang throughout the Command Center. Tommy immediately sprang from his bed and headed to Kim's room. The others too quickly left what they were doing and headed to Kim's room. As they arrived, they saw that Tommy was struggling to open the door.

"Kim? Are you there? Are you okay? Open the door…please…" Tommy said loudly as he knocked.

"What's up Tommy?" Billy asked. Adam and Rocky were right behind him, with Adam helping Rocky walk.

"The door is locked and Kim won't answer." He said knocking again.

"Zordon probably hasn't unlocked the door yet." Adam spoke. They all piled up outside of Kim's door waiting for further instruction. Alpha was heard as he made his way, the rangers turning in his direction.

"The reason why the door is still locked is because Kimberly wanted everyone together before speaking to any of you." This caused Tommy to frown. He was hoping to be able to talk to Kim alone first.

"Please wait here." Alpha turned his back to the group, putting something in front of the door scanner. There was a confirmation beep and soon after a click was heard, signaling the unlocking of the door. Alpha walked in and shut the door behind him. Just as Tommy was about to open the door and walk in, there was a click and the door was once again locked. Tommy pushed against the door but it wouldn't budge. The rangers just stood there, waiting to be let in.

"Kimberly, here is your new communicator." Alpha handed her a replica of her old communicator. Kim tried to remove the bracelets in order to put on her communicator, but they wouldn't budge. She looked up at Alpha quizzically, opening her mouth to ask a question before Alpha beat her to the punch.

"Just place it above the wrist bracelets. This is only a replica of your old communicator. The bracelets can be removed, but you must do it telepathically. It is like they have a mind of their own, yet they are under your command. It is best if you leave them on at all times. This way the damage from the battle against Zed will be concealed as well as help speed up the healing process. Instead, focus on making them blend with your skin." Kim focused on the bracelets, willing them to blend with her current skin tone. As she focused, the bracelets started to shimmer and disappear. After a few minutes, the bracelets seemed to be gone. Only those whose knew what to look for and paid close attention could see them.

"Like I said, this communicator is a replica of your old one. Although it won't help you morph, you can still use like your old one. No one will be the wiser of its lacking functions."

"Thanks Alpha. Are the others outside?" Kim asked as she put on her "new" communicator.

"Yes, and they are all anxious to see you."

"Can you please let them in?"

"Of course. I will see you later. Let me know if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks Alpha!" Alpha nodded and headed towards the door. He waited a bit so Kim could get situated before opening the door.

"Rangers, you may come in now." They waited until Alpha was outside of the room before rushing in. The rangers hadn't really seen Kimberly since the last battle, so they were glad to see she was looking much better. All of them had tried to come and see her at different times, with no luck, as the door still remained shut. It seemed that Zordon had told Kim not to open the door to anyone. Either that, or she truly was asleep. She acknowledged Alpha once more as the robot left them to discuss pending matters.

"Kim," Tommy was the first one at her side, enveloping her in a hug. Kim however, didn't hug him back. Tommy noticed this and quickly stepped back.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm fine Tommy. Please, sit. All of you." Tommy and the others were in awe of their pink ranger. They were all confused and wondered why Kim was acting this way.

"How are you Kim? How are you feeling?" Billy asked.

"I'm good Billy. Just a little sore." She replied with a big smile.

"So Kim, Zordon called us here. Do you know why?" Rocky asked.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better too Rocky. And yes I do. Zordon called you here because I asked him to. I wanted to talk to you guys." The rangers had all seated themselves around Kim by this point. Tommy and Billy sat to Kim's left, while Aisha and Kat were by the foot of the bed, and Rocky and Adam to Kim's right.

"Where are Dana and Daniel?"

"Zordon said during the battle, Daniel thought it would be best to take Dana home. He said she could stay some other night. Zordon had Alpha teleport them home." Aisha said.

"Okay. Well, before I say anything, I must ask all of you to not interrupt. If you have questions or comments, please let me know once I finish." They all nodded in understanding.

"First of all, and I don't mean to sound rude as I say this; but, what is up with you guys? Why are all of you so cold and distant with Zordon and his daughter? We are rangers! Zordon is our mentor! He is like a father to all of us. Why would you disrespect him like that?!" The rangers all looked guilty and ashamed.

"Kim, wha-" Tommy began to interrupt, when Kim turned to face him.

"Especially you. Right now, **you** are the person whom I'm most disappointed in Thomas James Oliver!" Tommy looked hurt and confused at this point. "You disrespected Kimana and in doing so, you have disrespected Zordon."

"Who is Kimana?" Katherine asked.

"Zordon's daughter." All the rangers avoided looking Kim in the eye, as all of them were ashamed of their actions. They knew they had overreacted and most of them wanted to apologize. The only problem with that was that they didn't know where she was staying and none of them wanted to face Zordon.

"Kim, you have to understand -" Tommy began arguing.

"**NO**" Kim countered in an eerily calm voice. "Tommy, you were the most disrespectful. As the leader of this team, it is your job to set the example. Yet you were the worst one! Why?"

"Because…" Tommy refused to answer here and avoided looking straight at her. His face had slowly changed from hurt to angry.

"Why?" Kim asked again putting a little more emphasize in her question.

"I ALMOST LOST YOU!" Tommy yelled. Kim just remained quite as he exploded.

"That does not excuse you. There will always be times where we will be stressed out and emotionally unstable. It's part of this job. But you cannot start biting people's heads off right and left because of it! I understand how you feel, and I know you were in pain. I felt the same when you lost your green ranger powers. However, we are rangers. We must always keep our cool and have a clear mind or else the forces of evil will prevail!"

Tommy couldn't believe it. He glared at Kim, who had kept her cool and refused to show any sort of emotion. He looked at her straight in the eyes, scowled at her, and stood up. He looked at the rest of the team before leaving the room. Billy got up to go after him, but Kim grabbed his arm.

"Let him go."

"But - "

"He needs to calm down and I'm not finished. Tommy wasn't the only one who was wrong. What happened with all of you?" All of them remained quiet. Adam finally summoned up the courage to speak.

"We were scared. We saw you take a blast at close range from Zedd to protect Dana. We had stopped breathing. When we found you, you were covered in blood, your power suit was practically gone." All of the rangers were starting to get emotional as they recalled memories of the incident. "Billy came out of the medical ward covered in blood, _your_ blood. And when we were finally allowed to see you, you were so pale and looked so weak. Most of us didn't know how to feel. We were blaming ourselves because we should have been there with you, to help you. And then you had to go and save our asses yet again, when you weren't even at a quarter of your full strength. We felt as if we had failed you." Adam tensed up, refusing to shed the tears that were threatening to fall.

"When we had to go into battle for the third time in less than 2 days, we were all worn out, both physically and mentally. All we wanted to do was give up. But somehow we couldn't, because you were able to do so much more when you were the one that had been on the receiving end of the worst attacks to date. And then, all of a sudden this ranger comes out of nowhere and beats such a pathetic monster. A monster, which we could have handled ourselves if we been in the right state of mind. By this point we didn't know what to do. When we came back, Zordon had this look of immense pride and joy, yet we didn't know why. I guess in a way, we resented him and we were angry that anyone could be even remotely happy, with everything that had been going on. So we responded in a really bad way. But we're really sorry and we know better. This won't ever happen again."

"It's not me to whom you should be apologizing. It's Zordon. I understand why you acted the way you did. I probably would have too, but not at Zordon. All this time, he's been nothing except a father figure to us, helping us and trying to protect us. He hadn't said anything about Kimana before because he had just found her again. Zordon's family is gone, his people are too far from Earth, and he's stuck in a time warp. _We _are his only family now. This is why he wanted to share this moment on joy and happiness. Because he wanted you to be happy for him and share in this momentous occasion. You should also apologize to Kimana." They all nodded in recognition of the truth Kimberly's words held. Aisha looked up at Kim.

"We'll apologize to both of them. I promise."

"Thank you." Kim smiled for the first time since the beginning of this conversation. "Now that this has been cleared and sorted out, what's new?"

The other rangers quickly smiled too, jumping into different conversations of what had happened in the last few days. The group chatted for a bit before Zordon appeared. The others apologized sincerely, which caused Zordon to smile. He forgave them and let Kim know that she was well enough to return to school the next day. Soon after, the rangers left for their own rooms, leaving Kimberly to her thoughts. Everything's alright. Well, almost. Now to go and get my falcon to listen. Kim got out of bed and made sure her room was locked before teleporting out of the command center.

**AN2: So there you go. Another chapter done. Hope you guys liked it. Don't forget to review!**


	13. Chapter 13: A Serious Conversation

**A/N: Hey guys. I'm very sorry for the lack of updates. I know it's been almost a year, but I've been no where near a comfortable writing level. A lot of things have happened that prevented me from being able to write. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking about this story. I've been writing down ideas and minor plot points, so expect a lot of fun chapters in the future. **

**As always, I thank my beta Alana for her hard work and patience. She is responsible for you guys not getting angry and my grammar or spelling :P Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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Chapter 13: A serious Conversation

Tommy was sitting on the shore of the lat at Angel Grove Park. Not moving since he had stormed out of Kim's room, he was deep in thought over everything that had transpired over the past couple of days. _Why would she react like anything I said didn't matter?_ Tommy had tried to explain that she had almost **died, **and that this was the only reason why he in turn, had overreacted with Zordon and Kimana. He couldn't help but think about how Kim had almost died, how the team had gotten their asses handed to them not once, but twice; with Kim having to save them one of those times, nearly dying of exhaustion from facing Zedd a second time in two days. And then, there was this new ranger…Kimana. _Since when did Zordon have a daughter, and why are we just finding out now? Argh! Why has everything gotten out of control!_ Tommy stood up and threw a rock across the lake's surface, causing it to skip a few times before disappearing into the depths of the lake. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear Kimberly approaching him.

"Nice shot." Tommy turned quickly, apprehension clear in his eyes, his body tense and ready for a fight. As soon as he saw it was Kim, he frowned and turned to face the lake once more, choosing to ignore her for the time being. Kimberly too ignored his attitude, instead walking up to him and wrapping her arm around his waist, looking out onto the lake as well.

"You know you're being stubborn." Kim said, a little mirth in her voice. Tommy didn't respond to her comment. He just kept his gaze on the lake and the setting sun. "I know why you reacted the way you did." Kim started, determined to get him to listen to her. "I'm sorry if you thought, or still do think, that I don't care about how all of this has affected you. But you also have to understand, that if anyone has a right to be angry or upset, it's me. Yet, I'm okay with what happened. I've accepted it as part of my job as a ranger. I'm also immensely happy for Zordon and Kimana. And if I'm happy, then you should be too. So please try and understand why I'm upset at your attitude and disrespect towards Zordon." Tommy shifted uncomfortably in Kim's arms at the mention of his actions. He did understand her, but didn't want to let her know just how much he truly did.

"There's something you should know about me, and who knows…maybe knowing this will help you understand why I was so mad." Kim let go of Tommy and moved closer to the edge of the lake, standing right next to him, arms folded in her chest. Now it was Tommy's turn to face her, yet he didn't move from his spot, instead, looking at her intently, wondering what his girlfriend had kept from him.

"As you know, long before this whole ranger business, my parents were constantly fighting with each other. My brother and I would always lock ourselves in our rooms and tried to distract ourselves with other things. My brother graduated high school shortly after we became rangers and left for collage. My parents didn't even seem to notice Kenny was gone. They still kept fighting with each other, never seeming to stop. Gradually, things became worse; at first it was just speaking loudly and the occasional shouting; but then, it started escalating towards shouting matches and slamming doors in each other's faces. Do you remember the time we fought that one lizard looking monster?" Kim looked back over her shoulder to see Tommy nod; he was now paying attention only to her. "Remember how I was getting knocked around like a little rag doll for the first bit of the fight?"

"Yeah." Tommy looked away as he remembered that day. He was so afraid that Kimberly had gotten seriously injured and was filled with relief when he saw that she was fine. _Seems like nothing compared to what we've been through lately._

"This was the reason why I was getting so beat up, and why I wasn't at the Youth Center. My parents had started fighting again on a whole new level; my mom throwing things at my dad, and he was yelling and cursing at my mom. I couldn't believe that their marriage had gotten this bad. I was headed down the stairs, hoping to avoid them and get out of the house quietly; but stupid me, I left my communicator on my nightstand. They had no idea that I was still in the house or that I had heard anything. I was planning to make my getaway before they realized that I was there." By now, Kim had tears in her eyes, but she refused to shed them. She didn't want to give her parents the satisfaction of causing her this much pain, even if they didn't have any consciously know they were. Tommy noticed how her body had tensed up, quivering harder as the story progressed. Forgetting everything that had made him angry, he stepped up and hugged Kimberly to him. She shook in his arms, trying desperately not to break. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to look up at Tommy's face.

"Sorry about that." She said sheepishly.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it," Tommy smiled at her.

"Anyway…after the battle, you guys went back to the Youth Center again while I headed for home. Zordon though, said he wanted to talk to me. He said that he had noticed what had happened and asked me what was wrong. After a bit of coaxing on his part, I told him about everything that had been going on at home for the past few months. Instead of dismissing my problems and getting mad at me for my poor performance that day, Zordon was there for me. He treated me like his daughter, letting me know everything would be alright and that if I ever needed anything at all, I should let him know and if it was within his powers to grant, he would. Since that day, my parents slowly got worse to the point where I couldn't even get some sleep because they would fight well into the night. There were many times I would ask Alpha to teleport me to the Command Center in order for me to spend the night there. I had my own cot in the corner, next to the power suits set up. I would tell my parents that I was staying over at a friend's house, that way they wouldn't come looking for me in the middle of the night. That was how Zordon came up with the idea of expanding the Command Center. Well, that and the fact that Zedd was getting stronger; to the point where one of us could get seriously injured and in need of medical attention. If this were to ever happen to one of us, he knew the rest would not leave that person's side. So he decided to turn the Command Center into what you know now."

"Wow…" Tommy's mouth hung wide open. "I…I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I'm telling you this in the hopes that you will understand why I reacted the way I did. I truly am sorry if I hurt your feelings, I didn't mean to do so on purpose." Kimberly hugged him again after saying this. This time, Tommy hugged her in return.

"You have nothing to apologize for Beautiful. _I_ should be the one apologizing, to you, to Billy, and especially Kimana and Zordon. You're right; I shouldn't have disrespected them. I hope that you can forgive me."

"You don't have to apologize to me. I'm only calling you out on your behavior. It's the others you should be apologizing to."

"Well, I'm sorry anyway." Tommy smiled and rested his chin on Kimberly's head. Kimberly smiled as well.

"Then you are forgiven." Both of them stood there, frozen in time, just holding each other. By the time they had finished their conversation, the sun had set and in its place was a beautiful full moon. Realizing they should head back soon; Tommy was about to teleport them back to the Command Center, when Kimberly started to laugh lightly.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. It's just that…. well, at least _one_ good thing came out of this whole mess with my parents."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" He turned Kim around so she was facing him. He took her face in his hands and held her there. Kimberly couldn't help but smile a huge bright smile.

"A killer new Command Center!" Kim laughed out loud, her eyes full of mirth. Tommy burst out laughing too. Any tension that had lingered was now gone. Tommy pulled in closer and brushed his lips against hers. It was a small kiss, but full of the love each had for one another. When he pulled back, Kimberly bit her lower lip, as if deciding whether or not to speak her mind. Not being able to hold it back, she decided to speak anyway.

"I love you." Tommy smiled.

"I love you too." He caressed her cheek with his thumb, taking in every once of Kim's features as they were bathed in the moonlight. Tommy's lips met Kim's once more, this time in a more passionate, breath-taking kiss. Both stopped after a few minutes in order to get air back into their lungs. Kim hugged Tommy to her, resting her head on his chest.

"Wow!"

"Nice kiss." Tommy said, smiling goofily hugged Kim as well. They kissed again, they're passion not being quelled by a single kiss. Slowly, thing started getting more intense, as the kissed became more passionate and started lasting longer. Not wanting to break the kiss they were currently partaking in, one of them pressed the teleportation button on Kim's communicator and after a few seconds, they found themselves in Kim's room. Tommy's knees hit the edge of her bed as they landed, causing Kim to push him back slowly onto the bed. Their hands roamed all over each other's bodies, exploring every possible inch, and ridding each other of any and all barriers that prevented them from doing so. Before things could progress further, Tommy being the gentleman he was, broke of the kiss and looked directly into Kimberly's eyes.

"Are you sure about this? We can stop if you don't' want to go any further."

"I'm sure. I would let you know if this was not something I wanted." Any self-restraint Tommy had was thrown out of the window with Kimberly's words. Giving into his desires, he silently promised himself that tonight would be all about Kimberly and making her happy. Likewise, Kimberly made that same promise to herself in regards to Tommy.

Soon both were so engulfed in their own passion, they forgot about anything in the outside world. Instead they focused on each other; making their already existing bond even stronger.

In the planet Phaedos, a lone figure stood in the Temple of Power, staring into a fire. To no one in particular, she spoke, "The prophecy has begun." Off in the distance, a crane and falcon could be heard as they flew into the sunrise.

Monday ~ 7:45am

The morning came slower than usual for Kimberly. Feeling lethargic, she tried to sit up, but found she couldn't move. Taking a second to try and figure this out, the events of last night began to invade her mind and she couldn't help but smile. It was then that she knew why she was currently unable to move. Her legs were intertwined with Tommy's, with his arms encircled around her waist, and his face buried in the crook of her neck. Finally opening her eyes, she saw that he was still asleep, resting peacefully.

Carefully untangling herself from him, so as not to wake him, Kimberly moved back some in order to be able to fully see him. _He looks so calm._ She couldn't help but run her fingers down the side of his face, tracing every last detail until she reached his chin. Tommy, who had woken up when she moved, remained still enjoying every moment as she caressed his face. When Kim finished, he began to stir. Opening his eyes to find a pair of doe brown eyes looking back at him, he smiled as he too remembered the previous night. He gave Kim a chaste kiss, hugging her closer to him once more.

"Morning Beautiful."

"Morning Handsome." Kim buried her head in his chest, letting his arms bring her even closer to him. "Thank you. Last night was amazing. Thank you for being the one to experience it with me."

"You're welcome." Tommy lifted her chin to him and kissed her deeply once more. "You were incredible. Thank you for being my first. Last night was probably the most amazing night of my life. And today, right now, has got to be the most amazing morning of my life. This is an great way to wake up in the morning." He smiled at her, making Kim blush with his last comment. Both stayed this way for a little while, enjoying the moment and engraving it in their minds. Finally, after an eternity, Kim sat up bringing Tommy with her.

"Tommy, we should really get up. The others are probably wondering what happened. I wouldn't be surprised if the guys were camped outside your room, with Aisha and Kat outside of mine." Kim said, signaling to the door with her head as she spoke. "Are you going to walk back to your room or teleport?"

"I'll walk. After all, they _don't _know what happened, so to them, it could just be me leaving your room after talking to you. Besides," he said, as he kissed her once more before getting dressed, "I'm not ashamed of what happened. It was the best night of my life and I'm willing to shout it from the top of the command center." Kim smiled, getting up and going to her bathroom, but not before planting a big one on him before he left her room.

"I'll see you at breakfast." And with that, Tommy headed to his room, while Kim went to take a quick shower before facing the rest of the gang. After coming out of the bathroom, refreshed and ready to go, Kim cleaned up her room and headed to the cafeteria. She entered the elevator and pressed the button to take her to the desired location. While waiting, she thought of how her relationship with Tommy had now changed for the better. She smiled, thinking of how great, a really bad week ended. So wrapped up in her own thoughts, Kim didn't realize her legs had automatically taken her to the cafeteria.

Finally looking up, she saw that everyone except Tommy was there. They were all looking at her, expecting her to say something in regards to last night. Finally Adam spoke up.

"Morning Kim."

"Morning Adam. Morning guys! Has anyone seen Tommy?"

"Right here!" Tommy said, walking up behind her and hugging her to him. He picked her up, causing Kim to shriek, before putting her down, kissing her cheek, and taking the empty seat next to Billy.

"So I take everything's alright between you two." Aisha's tone indicated she was stating something rather than asking a question.

"Yep." Kim smiled, as she walked past Tommy and gave him a peck in the cheek before sitting in the empty seat between Kat and Aisha.

"That reminds me. I'm so sorry for being a total ass these past couple of days. I had no right to act the way I did and I'm sorry. Especially you Billy, I have no excuse to treat you in such a foul manner. Forgive me?" Tommy said, looking at all the rangers in the eyes, showing true remorse for his actions.

Billy smiled, "Hey man, don't sweat it. It's all good. We understand why you responded that way." The others nodded in agreement. They couldn't stay mad at each other for too long. They all grabbed some breakfast, enjoying each others company for the first time in a couple of days. They joked around and talked about why they were looking forward to/dreading the return to school the next day.

Finally after having laughed enough, Tommy took a more serious tone and whispered something into Kimberly's ear. Nodding in agreement, Kimberly pick her dishes and placed them in the sink, with Tommy following right behind her. Taking Kim's hand in his, Tommy faced the group again.

"Kim and I'll see guys later. I still have some things to do which require her presence. But once we're done, if you guys want we'll watch a movie or something.

"Sounds like a plan. We're all just going to hang out here today, so whenever you guys are ready just give us a call.", Aisha spoke as she too began to clean up her dishes. Tommy and Kim nodded in agreement and headed out of the kitchen. Together, they walked to the elevator, making small talk. Once the doors were shut, Kim pressed the button leading to the command center, and both waited to reach the floor in silence. _Ding_ .The door opened and Tommy lead Kim to where Alpha was standing.

"Hey Alpha. Is Zordon around?"

"I am right here Tommy. Good morning to you both.

Kim smiled as she greater him. "Morning Zordon."

"Good morning Zordon, I wanted to apologize to you for my behavior yesterday. I had no right to disrespect you or Kimana. I really am sorry." Tommy bowed his head in shame, yesterday's actions coming to mind.

"Apology accepted. Do not worry Tommy. As I said yesterday, I understand why you acted that way."

"Thank you Zordon. If it's possible, I'd also like to apologize to Kimana. Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Kimana has informed me that she will return in a week's time. However, it all depends on when she has concluded her business."

Tommy nodded in understanding. "Will you let me know the moment she arrives?"

"I shall. For now, please go and enjoy the rest of your day. The sensors are not picking up any activity. It is safe to say that for now, no monsters will attack Angel Grove."

Smiling once more, both Tommy and Kim headed back to the elevator, hand in hand, coming up with a list of movies to suggest. It wasn't until Alpha was sure the elevator had reached its intended floor that he turned up to Zordon and spoke, "A transmission came in early this morning."

"What did it say?"

"It has begun."

Zordon looked at Alpha, resignation filling his voice. "I know."

************

**That's it for this chapter. Hope you guys liked it. I'm going to try and update by next weekend. I have an exam on Friday, so I don't think any sooner than that will happen. But, who knows, you might get multiple chapters up, since it is a long weekend end. Until next time!**

**R&R!!**

**Nightlancer6000**


	14. Chapter 14: Beginning of the End

**A/N: Hey guys. I'm back with a new chapter. I hope that you guys are all doing well. I've been typing up this chapter over the past week. Thanks again to my beta Alana for having the patience to wait for me and my slow process of creative writing. It is thanks to her that you can read this and not cringe due to grammar and spelling errors. Now enough of this rambling. Enjoy the next chapter :)**

Chapter 14: Beginning of the End

~~~~Friday -9:00 pm~~~~

Things remained calm for a few days and returned to normal, well as normal as it could get for the rangers anyway. It helped that Kimberly kicked Zedd's ass so hard that apparently he was still in too much pain to send any monsters since Sunday. Kimberly had been training with Zordon in the evenings the entire week in order to gain better control of her powers. She had acquired quite a few of them as a result of becoming Zordon's daughter and the heir to the Eltarian throne. Telepathy, which came fairly natural to her, was the easiest to control. The more she used this particular power, the more tricks she learned to tweak it here and there.

Kim was currently laying down in bed trying to take in everything that had happened this week. Since she had gotten the hang of her telepathic powers early on, Zordon decided to being training her in the use of her other main powers: levitation and healing. The first day of training was spent going over some basics of the powers she had obtained.

"For now, we'll only go into details of a few of your acquired powers. As they are still new to you, not all of them will manifest themselves right now. The powers will come to you as they are needed and as your control over them grows.". Kimberly nodded in understanding. "We will begin with healing and levitation. These two, along with telepathy, are essential in your training. By mastering these, you'll be able to control the other powers with more ease."

"Before we begin, could you explain a little more about these powers?"

"Certainly. As I said before, telepathy, invisibility, telekinesis, and levitation are the foundation on which all Eltarians begin their training. I'm also going to add healing to this list, even though most Eltarians don't learn this power until much later in their lives. I've noticed you seem to have a knack for telepathy and invisibility. You seem to have an excellent innate understanding of these power and have already begun mastering some of the more advanced uses. As for levitating, once you learn to control this power properly, you will be able to sustain yourself and others in the air for long periods of time. Eventually, if you get far enough in training, you might be presented with the opportunity to master flight. Levitation takes great concentration of the body and mind together. Training your mind will be very difficult and probably the most rigorous part of your training. But, once you get the basics, the rest should be easier to understand."

"Flight? As in flying in the sky? Without any wings or plane or anything?" Kim was shocked She couldn't believe there was such a thing. Then again, a lot of what she'd seen over the years are pretty incredible to learn.

"Yes. To be honest, we don't know how Eltarians are chosen. Only a select few have been known to actually successfully fly. Unfortunately for you, I am not one of those. I do not even know if those who did know are still alive. Like I said, you must first master levitation and dedicate yourself to your training in order to even be presented with the opportunity." Kim just looked at him in awe. She knew that the possibility of this actually happening were slim, but still, the idea of being able to fly really intrigued her. After a moment she nodded her head vigorously.

"I'm going to try really hard master all my powers. This way I can make you proud and be given the chance to learn all this amazing stuff."

"Telekinesis, much like the last two powers have to do with the mind. You will have to train really hard in order to master this. Because of the mental strength required, your telekinetic abilities will develop on par with your invisibility and levitation. I believe that you will be able to learn this skill rather quickly and learn a lot in a short amount of time."

"Okay." Kim said sounding a bit nervous.

"I have complete faith in you Kimberly. Now, for the last power – healing. While the other two powers have to do with your body and mine, this power has more to do with knowledge gained from books. This is perhaps the more complex part of your training, which will consist of three parts. Unlike the other two, you will constantly be learning to improve your abilities and techniques. We will begin with self healing, following with herbal healing and ending with magical healing. Self-healing is the simplest of the three because it only requires you to concentrate on healing yourself, unlike magical healing."

"But isn't healing myself done because of magic?" Kimberly asked, confused

"Yes it is. When you heal yourself, you use your own life essence. What you heal is part of you and since you wield magic, it makes it easier for you to replenish your life essence. But when you heal someone else, you do not use _your_ life essence most the time. Instead, you are synching your essence with that person's essence an controlling it to heal what you want to heal. However, before being able to synch with that person, you much ask permission of the person's spirit to manipulate their life essence. In order to communicate with people's spirits, you will be taught a magical language, which will work with most living organisms."

"Couldn't I just use my essence to heal another person?"

"Yes, but you must be very careful when using that type of healing. By using your life force on another person, you are draining yourself of your energy. As I said before, when you are healing yourself, you are manipulating your own life force. It stays within you and so your essence stays intact. But when you heal someone else, it is not just your life force you're dealing with. If you want to use your life force, you have to follow certain magical protocol to get the other person's life essence to accept yours. If it does, then it slowly takes yours, draining you of your life force. If you do not learn to properly heal another person using your life essence, both of you could die."

Kimberly paled at hearing the last portion. She knew this was serious, but now she realized how much. Everything seemed to get harder and harder to do, but she just had to keep pushing forward.

"Magical healing is essentially the same thing, only you have to use certain spells to allow your surroundings to lend you energy for you to heal. You see, everything which is alive has energy. Life self-healing, magical healing requires careful managing. You have to know the limit of what you can take. If you take too much, you will drain whatever source you are using. I cannot stress how careful you have to be when using this type of magic." Kim nodded once more, taking mental notes of everything that Zordon was saying. "As for herbal healing, you will be taught how to heal using herbs and other types of plants. This is perhaps the easiest to do because it does not use up any life force. Herbal healing will be taught to you through out the rest of your training. You will learn about plants both here on Earth as well as other planets and incorporate them into your healing style accordingly."

Kim understood what was going to be required from her during this training. She also knew that this was going to take up a lot of her time, so she knew that being a power ranger was going to be hard to balance, along with school and her new training. She had brought it up with Zordon and they came up with ideas to deal with this situation. Kim didn't want to let the others know about her, so she knew she had to make a choice. Making a decision of this magnitude was incredibly difficult because she couldn't choose between her ranger duties and her new responsibility.

Kim had thought about it for a long time before making her choice. After much deliberation and internal debate over the last few days, she had made her decision. As much as it pained her, she would pass on her powers to another and devote herself to her training. This was perhaps the hardest thing for her to do, but she knew it had to be done.

It seemed as if fate agreed with her. Earlier in the week, a famous coach from Florida came to Angel Grove to recruit gymnasts for the Pan Globals. He had seen Kim practicing at the Youth Center and offered her a position on the team. Kim knew this was the perfect opportunity for her to solve her current situation, but she didn't answer the coach right away. She wanted to discuss all of this with Zordon. While preparing for one of their training session, Kimberly decided to broach the topic.

"Dad, I think it's time for me to pass on my powers." Zordon looked shocked at Kimberly's suggestion.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I've been thinking. After everything you told me that I should expect from my training, I've had to rearrange my priorities. You know that I love being a ranger more than anything. Well, almost everything. But in order for me to learn everything, I need to devote myself completely to my training. There's no way I can do that and be a ranger at the same time. Right now, we've started training during nights, but I'm starting to get worn out with little sleep and having to wake up and go to school in the morning and fight Zed and his goons in the afternoon. We both know that if these keeps going on, I won't make enough progress. But, if I were to focus solely on this training, I could learn so much better. I got an offer from a gymnastics coach to train with him in Florida. I think this is the perfect excuse to stage my departure. The others can think that I left for Florida to train and I can focus on what's important. This way, I can finish the rest of my schooling through correspondence and the others won't begin asking questions as to why I'm too tired to hang out or why I choose not to go when they ask."

"I see. I understand. Are you sure you are ready for this then? I know how painful this will be for you. If you need more time, I won't have a problem with it."

"I appreciate that, but I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be. I know this is going to be extremely hard, but I know it's the right thing to do."

During their last training session, Zordon had told Kim that she would need more training with Dulcea and Ninjor in order to fully control both her new inherited powers as well as her Ninjetti ones. Kim understood and was truly looking forward to it. The only problem she saw was how the training would take place. Would Ninjor and Dulcea be coming here or would she be going to them? And how long would these session last? She asked Zordon all of this, to which he answered he was unsure. He thought it best if she were to go to them. He did not know how long she would be gone for though. Kim knew that because of this uncertainty, she would not be able to commit herself to Earth's defense or anything that tied her to Earth for a long time.

"Do you have a candidate in mind for your replacement?"

"Yes, actually, I do." Zordon once again looked a bit surprised.

"Who?"

"I believe Kat will make an excellent ranger."

"I agree." Zordon smiled at his daughter's choice.

"I will let the others know of my plans to go to Florida tomorrow."

"Very well. Dulcea has said that she wants to begin your training as soon as possible. We want to prepare you as best we can so you can be ready for when the prophecy occurs."

"How much time before she wants me on Phaedos?"

"Nine days."

"Alright." Kim looked a bit sad at the prospect of leaving so soon. "That gives me just a little over a week to settle everything here."

Their training session began shortly after, having cleared up any remaining questions. Kim sparred with holograms that, unfortunately for her, gave her real bruises. Kim was good enough to defend herself, but has some trouble going on the offensive. She ended up with a few cuts and bruises, which she successfully healed at the end of their session with her self-healing. She also started learning the basics of the types of healing, which she thought would come in handy after sparring from now on.

By the end of the session, they had also come up with a plan on how Kim would "leave" to Florida. Knowing full well that the others would take her to the airport, she would play along and go through the boarding gate. As soon as the rangers left, she would head back to the command center. From there she would resume her role as Kimana for a day or two before heading off to Phaedos.

Before any of this could happen though, Kim had to let the others know of her Pan Globals plans. This was the thing she dreaded the most and was the reason why she was still awake right now. She knew she had to tell Tommy before everyone else. Looking at the clock and realizing that it was almost midnight, she decided that for now, she would get some sleep and try to settle things in the morning.

~~~ Saturday Morning – 10:30 am ~~~~

It was a beautiful morning when Kim woke up. She was finishing putting some food inside a picnic basket on the table. Tommy had called earlier and asked if she wanted to go out on a picnic by the lake. Seeing this as an opportunity to talk, Kim agreed and began packing some food for them. Tommy arrived an hour later and was waiting for Kim outside. She grabbed her stuff, said good-bye to Aisha and her mom before getting in the car. They drove to Angel Grove Park and walked down to the lake with their hands intertwined. On their walk towards the lake Tommy noticed Kim seemed to be distracted.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Well, I have some really amazing news, but it also has a really big downside."

"What do you mean?" Tommy looked at her with a worried glance.

"You see, I was...um....I was offered a position on the team for the Pan Globals." Kim said quickly, hoping to get it over with.

"Kim, that's great!!" Tommy said taking the basket from her hands and putting it on the floor with the blanket before embracing her in a hug. "So what's the problem?"

"You see...the thing is that they aren't staying in Angel Grove to train. They are going to the main gym in Florida." Upon saying this, she looked at Tommy, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Oh." Tommy said, not sure of what else to say. "Did you accept?"

"I told Coach Schmidt that I had to ask my family what they thought about this and if they were okay with it."

"Oh."

"He told me I had to let him know by Monday."

"Well, do you want to go?" Tommy asked, not really wanting to know the answer he knew she would say. Kim sighed and looked out to the lake.

"Part of me does. I mean, this is something I've always dreamed of doing. All I've ever wanted in life was to be a gymnast, to compete in the Olympics. And now I've been given a chance to do it."

"I see." Tommy said in a sad tone, knowing that this was always something she wanted.

"But...the other part of me wants to stay here. I mean, I have a life here. My friends are here. Then there is the whole ranger business. I don't think I can leave the team. We've gone through so much together, the level of our bond is so deep. My leaving might strain that bond severely, if not sever it completely." Tommy nodded in understanding, still looking sad.

"And then, there's also...you. I can't just up and leave us. I care too much about you and I don't want to lose what we have." Kim smiled a bit, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, I wouldn't want anyone to snatch you."

This comment seemed to do the trick, as Tommy smiled too and made a come back.

"Well, what about you? Guys are easily turned on by a girl in pink spandex. That's what hooked me." Both began to laugh. After a moment of silence, Kim spoke up again.

"Now that you know everything, what do you think I should do?"

"Kim, I love you. It's because I love you that I trust in what you choose to do. I will support you, whatever you decide to do."

"Thank you." Kim said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"You're welcome." he said, returning the hug.

"Now all I have to do is make a choice."

"Just trust yourself. Listen to your heart."

"But, my heart is telling me to go." Kim looked unsure of whether or not she should have said that aloud. Tommy smiled, holding her close.

"Then...I guess you're going to Florida."

"Really?" Kim's eyes lit up. She couldn't believe he was encouraging her.

"Yeah." Kim squealed in delight. She jumped into his arms, giving him another hug. Tommy was caught by surprise, not expecting her to jump on him, and so they both fell to the ground. After a moment, they both sat up and set up their picnic, enjoying each other's company for the next few hours.

**AN: I know, lame ending, but oh well. Great news for all of you though. I'm getting really close to wrapping up the flash-back portion of the story. I know, most of you will ask yourself **_**"What flashback?".**_** If you feel like it, then go ahead and reread the story. I warn you though, there are a bunch of errors because I didn't always have a wonderful beta. Mid-terms have finished, so I think I'm going to type up the last few remaining paper chapters this week, so that I can just start typing the rest of the story. I'm hoping to update again by the end of the month due to midterms starting up again in about 2 weeks. Don't forget to read and review!!**

**- Nightlancer6000**


	15. Chapter 15: Conversations in Pink

**Take a look at the AN at the end of the chapter. **

Chapter 15: Conversations in Pink

Saturday

4:00 pm

Zedd had sent a monster down earlier in the afternoon, interrupting Kim and Tommy's picnic. After putting everything away, they joined their teammates in Downtown Angel Grove. However, the monster was still no match for the rangers and was quickly defeated. After the battle, each ranger returned to the command center going their separate ways for some down time. Kimberly was in her room trying to come up with the best way of breaking the news to the rest of the team. Pacing back and forth, she was slowly becoming worried that this plan wasn't going to work. _What am I doing? There's no way this is going to work! Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to this..._ Finally, after a while Kim headed to Tommy's room, hoping he might be able to help. As Kim reached his room, she was about to knock when the door swung open to reveal Tommy heading out.

"Hey, I was just about to go looking for you." Tommy said, smiling. Kim hugged him, needing to feel safe. Tommy just hugged her to him, wondering what was wrong.

"Me too. Can we talk?" Kim said looking up at him and smiled.

"Sure." They headed towards the elevator, never losing contact with each other.

"I don't know how I'm going to tell the others about Florida. I've been thinking about it in my room for a while now and I still haven't been able to come up with some sort of coherent plan."

"Relax Kim. You don't have to worry about it this much. Just tell them what you told me."

"It's just that–"

"Just nothing. There's no reason for you to be afraid. They will be just as happy for you as I am."

"I guess."

"First of all, I think you should tell them all at the same time. How about we spend the weekend here? We'll watch a couple of movies and just hang out. I'm sure that at some point, the right time for this conversation will come up and we'll tell them together." Kim smiled and hugged him once more.

"Thanks Tommy. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"No problem. That's what I'm here for."

"Alright. So how do we go about doing this?"

"Well, I was on my way to tell you that the guys headed off to the Youth Center. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come."

"I think I'll hang out here. Besides, the girls will probably want to do something, so I'll let them know about the plan. You can tell the guys when you see them."

"Okay. Sounds good. See, no need to worry." He smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss.

"Thanks." They got off on the first floor and Tommy teleported out while Kim located the girls. Deciding to check their rooms first, Kim headed back down to the 7th floor. She reached Aisha's room and knocked, waiting for an answer.

"Aisha, you there?"

"Yeah. Come in."

"Hey Sha. Tommy and I thought we should all do something together tonight. Spend the weekend here and just have some fun. Maybe even enjoy the perks of the new Command Center to its fullest."

"Sounds cool. Any reason why this came up all of a sudden?"

"Yeah, I have some news to tell you guys. I want everyone together for it."

"Alright. I guess I'll head back to the house and grab some stuff. Do you want me to bring you back anything?"

"Um, just my toothbrush. I have stuff here already. Thanks!"

"Cool. See you in a bit." With that, Aisha teleported out from her room while Kim closed the door behind her and went about finding Kat.

Tommy walked into the Youth Center when he spotted the other guys on the mats.

"Hey Tommy! Over here." Rocky shouted, signaling Tommy to join them, Adam and Billy were currently sparring on the mats while Rocky watched and drank his smoothie. Tommy sat next to Rocky and watched as his friends tried to out do each other. After a few more minutes, Billy and Adam decided to call it a draw and took their seats at the table.

"Hey guys. Kim and I thought that we should all hang out tonight. Probably spend the weekend doing stuff in the Command Center."

"That's a great idea. Last time we actually spent some time together, it wasn't under desirable circumstances." Everyone cringed a little, preferring to forget that horrible day.

"Any particular reason for this get together?" Adam asked, noticing Tommy was trying not to fidget too much.

"Kim has something she needs to tell all of us."

"What is it?" Rocky asked.

"It's not my business to tell. All I can say is that she would like everyone there."

"Okay. We'll be there." The others nodding their heads in agreement.

"Awesome. Billy, is it cool if we meet up at your place and head out from there?"

"No problem. This will give me the opportunity to test out my new version of round robin."

"Huh?" Rocky's head tilted to the side as he gave Billy a confused look.

"You'll see when we get to my house." The group went back to their previous doings until it was time to head out.

Kim had looked for Kat in her room and then the swimming pool to no avail. _Dad, could you find out where Kat is? I've looked for her and haven't been able to find her._ She figured that this would be the quickest way to find her now. _She's at Angel Grove Park, near the lake__. __Thanks Dad!_ Deciding to practice her powers, she focused on becoming invisible. Clearing her mind and concentrating on blending with her environment, she slowly felt herself becoming invisible. Kim opened her eyes and once content with her invisibility, teleported out to the park. Once there, she made sure no one could see her and focused on becoming visible once more. Seeing Kat sitting on the dock of the lake, Kim headed towards her.

"Kat!" Kat turned around, looking for the source of the voice.

"Hey Kim. How are you?" They embraced and Kim sat down next to her.

"I'm good. You?"

"I'm doing alright. What's up?"

"Are you busy tonight?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Tommy and I thought that we should all hang out this weekend. We figured we could hang out in the Command Center and have some fun."

"That's a good idea."

"Great! So you'll be there?"

"Definitely." Kat was certainly looking forward to some down time.

"Ok. We're meeting at Billy's around six. I'll see you there. I gotta go get some stuff done before then."

"Alright. See you then." The girls hugged before Kim took off to find a place that was safe for her to teleport.

Saturday

6:00 pm

Mostly everyone was lounging about in Billy's living room. A communal decision was made to let their parents know that they would be spending the weekend at Billy's, since his dad was out of town for the weekend, which meant that they had the house to themselves. They were all waiting on Kim and Tommy who still had not showed up. Everyone figured that Tommy, with _his_ memory, had forgotten the time at which they were suppose to meet. As for Kim, they thought that she was probably packing for a summer vacation, even though she only needed stuff for two days.

"Hello, anybody home?" Tommy walked in and headed towards the living room.

"In here!" Rocky shouted.

"Hey guys. Is everyone here?"

"All present and accounted for. Except for Kim." Adam said.

"Wow, Tommy wasn't the last one to get here. Something had to have happened to Kim. I mean, this never happens!" Rocky grinned. Aisha just rolled her eyes and smacked him on the head.

"Haha, real funny." Tommy tried to hit Rocky as well but was prevented by his communicator. "This is Tommy."

"Hey guys, I'm already at the command center. I had some stuff I needed to do before this whole thing started. Just head over whenever you guys are ready."

"Alright Kim, we'll see you soon." Tommy ended the conversation just as Billy walked in the room.

"Is everyone ready?" Billy asked as he noticed Kim's absence.

"Yeah. Kim's waiting for us at the command center. As soon as you're ready we can head out."

"Ok. Let me just finish setting this up and we'll be good to go. If you guys will follow me.." Billy directed everyone to the basement. There was a computer and a few monitors piled on a large desk. Everyone gather around Billy as he took a seat in front of the main consul. "Guys, I'd like to introduce you to our new and improved emergency plan."

"Is this the new round robin plan you were talking about earlier?"

"Indeed it is. After Kim's accident, I started thinking more about what we should do if something like that happened again. After some tinkering here and there, I've rigged my home phone to re-route all incoming phone calls to my laptop in the command center when no one is home. In addition, I've also set up an alarm-trip system around the perimeter. While there are sensors that pick up any movement around the house, there is a specific sensor that is tripped if someone approaches the front door. There is also a small camera that will show us who it is exactly that is here. All this data is fed back to the command center computers so that, if need be, we can be back here in an instant."

"Wow Billy. This is amazing!" Kat was very impressed with this new system.

"Yeah man, you really out did yourself this time." Adam patted Billy on the back.

"Thanks. I figured that it was best if we did not get caught unprepared again."

"Definitely. Well, Kat and I set everything up to look like a few teenagers are spending the night here. So if everyone's ready let's head out! "

Everyone gathered in a circle and mass teleported to the main floor of the command center.

"Rangers. I hope everyone is well."

"Hey Zordon. We're all great. Really looking forward to the down time." Tommy smiled. "Have you seen Kim?"

"Yes. Kimberly is in her room right now. She asked me to tell you to begin your planned activities without her. She's just finishing up a few things and will join you shortly."

"Okay. Why don't start setting things up in the entertainment center?" Adam suggested.

"Alright. Let's go." Rocky spoke up and lead the group to the elevator.

"Katherine," Zordon spoke up. The tall blonde stopped and turned around to face him, "could you stay for a moment."

"Um...sure Zordon. Could you guys take my stuff for me?" Billy took her hag and headed to the elevator with the rest of the group. Waiting until the door closed, Kat looked up at Zordon, "what's up?"

"Do not worry Katherine. You are not in any trouble. Kimberly simply wishes to speak to you without the others knowing. She is waiting for you in her room." With that said, Zordon vanished.

"Okay..." Confused, Kat made her way to the elevator and pushed the button that would take her to Kim's room. A million questions were going through her mind, wondering if she had done anything that might have upset the pink ranger. After what seemed like forever, the elevator bell rang, indicating that she had reached her destination. The doors opened and she walked towards Kim's room. Taking a moment to compose herself, Kat took in a deep breath, _here goes nothing__, _released it and knocked on the door.

There was no answer. Kat knocked again. Nothing. Kat opened the door slowly and peeked in, wondering if Kim was asleep.

"Kim?"

"Hey Kat! Give me a sec." Kim shouted from the bathroom. True to her word, a second later Kim came out of the bathroom and leaned on the door frame.

"Hi...um Zordon said you wanted to talk to me?" Kat said in a nervous tone.

"Yes I did." Kim looked at Kat straight in the eye, her mouth only twitching slightly as she noticed Kat's nervousness.

"What about?"

"Relax Kat. You've done nothing wrong. I just need to ask you some questions is all." Kat seemed to relax a little, but was still tense at her shoulders.

"Alright. Shoot."

"Before I ask you anything, there's some background information you need to know." Kat nodded, "please, sit." Kim nodded her head in the direction of her bed. Kat did as she was told and waited to see if Kim would join her. Kim however, just stood there, looking off into space as she began to talk.

" You know the whole history behind the Power Rangers. You know that Zordon is our...creator, for lack of a better word. And we both know that any of us would do anything for him and for each other. " Kat nodded fervently, agreeing with that last bit wholeheartedly. "Well, the time has come for me to do my part, to demonstrate my loyalty to Zordon." Kat looked at her with confusion on her face. "I know you were there in the Command Center when I collapsed. You overheard my conversation with Zordon." Kim's eyes bulged wide, visibly tensing her entire body.

"Kim..I swear I - "

"It's okay Kat. I'm not mad. First, I want to thank you for not saying anything to anyone. It is important that no one else finds out." Kat eased herself once more, seeing Kim's sincerity. "Besides, I know you didn't do it on purpose. You're probably wondering what exactly Zordon and I were talking about." Kat nodded, blushing a bit, because she was indeed curious. Kim chuckled when she noticed the blush.

"It's okay. I'm going to tell you what all that was about. After I tell you everything, I will ask the questions I need to ask." Kat looked at her confused again, wondering what all this had to do with her. So Kim spent the next couple of minutes telling her all about the prophesy. She told Kat about her new relationship with Zordon, her new powers, and her new mission. Kat couldn't believe everything she was being told. She took in all this information, never once interrupting Kim's train of thought. Once Kim finished, she took in a deep breath, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Kim waited a few minutes, letting everything sink in. Kat just stared for a bit, processing everything before asking some questions.

"Wow...that's a lot to handle. And you haven't told anyone? Not even Aisha?" Kim shook her head. "So when...and how are you getting to Phaedos? And how are you going to do this when you're needed here?"

"That is the primary reason I asked you to come see me."

"What do you mean?"

"Because of all the training requirements, among other things, I have to leave. Soon. But I can't just abandon my duties as a Ranger either. As you can see, I have a bit of a dilemma. After much thought and many sleepless nights, I've come up with what I think is the best possible solution." Kim stopped and composed herself. She was about to change one of her best friend's life forever and she didn't want to give her the wrong impression. "Kat, I want to ask you, because I trust you, and because I believe you will do an amazing job. I want you to think about the question I'm about to ask you. Take the time to think it over, don't feel as if you have to answer at this very moment." Kat's eyes widened, getting the gist of the question Kim wanted to ask her.

"Kat, will you accept my offer to take over my place as the pink ranger and wear the mantle of the pink crane Ninjetti Warrior?"

Kat sat on the bed, not really believing what Kim had just asked her. She had an idea this was what Kim would ask, but to have her actually say out loud was a different matter. This had to be some sort of joke! There was no way she could ever be a ranger.

"Kat? Are you okay?" Kim waved a hand in front of Kat's face and got no reaction.

"Huh?" Kat looked slightly dazed, unsure of what to say.

"I know this is a lot to take in. Like I said, you don't have to decide right now. "

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. Take some time to think this all over."

"No, I mean about me; choosing me that is."

"Yes. There is no doubt in my mind that you are the perfect person to replace me."

"Are you sure you want _me_ to succeed you as the Pink Power Ranger?"

"Yes." Kim said with conviction.

"What about the others? What do they think about this?" Kim looked at her sheepishly.

"Actually, they don't know about any of this. That's why I gathered them here today."

"Shouldn't you ask them first?"

"No, not really. As one of the senior members of the team, I have the right to choose my successor without being questioned. But more important than that, they trust me. They know that I will make the right choice when it comes to my successor. Whoever I choose." Kat was overwhelmed. She couldn't believe this was happening. Could she really do this? But she looked at Kim, who had this air of confidence and seemed so sure of what she was talking about.

"And you're sure about this?"

"Yes."

"If you're sure, then...I'd be honored to have a place on this team. And I am honored that you would choose me for this. I promise that I will work really hard and I won't disappoint you or Zordon." It was Kim's turn to relax. She was worried Kat would not accept and then she'd have to look elsewhere.

"I am so glad you accepted. Trust me, you'll make an excellent ranger Kat. I couldn't choose anyone else." The women embraced each other, both infinitely more relaxed than when the conversation began, which seemed hours ago. They separated, both with grins plastered on their faces.

"We should probably head to where the others are. It's been a little while and they will probably start to wonder what's going on." Kat nodded in agreement.

"So...Zordon's daughter eh?" Kat asked, following Kim out of her room and into the hallway.

"Yeah." Kim smiled widely once more. She still couldn't believe it sometimes. They got into the elevator and pushed the button taking them to where the other rangers were.

"What's it like? And what does that make you? In terms of a title anyway..." Kat asked, wanting to know more about all this now that Kim has shared it with her.

"It's amazing. I've always seen Zordon as a sort of father figure, but now it's official. As to what that makes me...nothing big really. Just Princess of Eltar, next in line to the throne and ruler of Phaedos." Kat gawked at Kim, amazed that she could say that as if it were an everyday occurrence. Kim smiled and continued. "In terms of a title," she sighed dramatically, "oh, something along the lines of Her Royal Highness Princess Kimana of Eltar. Or Her Majesty, Queen of Phaedos. Depends where I am I guess. And, once I finish training, I'll add Master Warrior to that."

"Hmm...I thought there would be more..." Kat laughed.

"But, luckily, I already have the best title I could ask for."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"Zordon's daughter and Tommy's girlfriend." Kim laughed. Kat looked at her and joined in the laughter. Both were happy, glad this bit of drama was done. Now, there were heading to the fourth floor, where they would tell the rest of the rangers everything. Well, almost everything.

**AN: So that's another chapter done. I know I've been gone a really long time. Things have happened and I've kind of put my writing on the back burner. Anyway, like I said before, I am almost done with this bit of the story. Next chapter will be all about that dreaded Friday. And afte that, there will be one or two more about Kim's training before concluding this story and going on to the second of this three part story. **

**I want to thank all of you for sticking with me. I really do appreciate it. I also want to thank my beta Alana for all her awesome help. She's super patient with me and not a lot of people are like that. So thanks Alana! Don't forget to leave reviews, as those are always a good way to get me going. Though I have a few things going on this week, I'm in a writing mood, so I think I'll have the next chapter up in the next few days :D Until then!**

**Nightlancer6000**


	16. Chapter 16: Conversations of a Group

**AN: Hey guys. Here it is, the first chapter of the new year! I know I said this chapter was going to be the one where Kim left, but I completely forgot I had this chapter before hand. The next one for sure! I promise. I'm typing it up right now. If you guys could read the AN at the end of the chapter, that would be great! If you don't, then you'll miss out on some important info.**

**Thanks to my beta Alana! Always making sure that my writing isn't atrocious and grammatically correct! I owe you big!**

Chapter 16: Conversations of a Group

~ ~ ~ Saturday 6:30 p.m. ~ ~ ~

The elevator door opened and both women stepped out, whispering quietly to each other. They were trying to figure out how best to tell the others about the changes that would soon come their way. As they walked into the room, they saw that the other rangers were talking to each other, trying to decide something. They were all seated in a circle around a coffee table that had a couple of movies displayed. The options were Air Force One, Stephen King's The Langoliers, Look Who's Talking, From Duck Till Dawn, Jurassic Park, and Pretty Woman. The girls joined the group, jumping into the conversation as if they had been there the whole time.

"So what are we gonna watch?" Kim asked, leaning over Tommy.

"Hi Kim. There you are. We're trying to figure that out. All of us have different ideas at the moment." Adam said.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I for one, have had my fill of monsters. Lord knows you guys deal with them more often than I do, so I imagine it's the same for you. My vote's on Pretty Woman or Look Who's Talking." Kat said, looking over Aisha's shoulder at the selection of movies.

"I think we could all use a good laugh. I say we watch the comedy." Tommy said. The others nodded their heads in agreement. After picking up the movies, the group made themselves comfortable on the pull-out couch. Tommy put the movie on and went to sit next to Kim. Once the movie finished, they all made their way to the cafeteria to make dinner.

"So what are you guys in the mood for? I was thinking pizza or pasta." Kim asked.

"Pasta!" Rocky and Aisha said rather loudly.

"That sounds great." Tommy spoke, seeing that both Billy and Adam nodded in approval. Aisha, Rocky, and Kat stepped into the kitchen to help while the rest went to set up the table. While Kat made the pasta, Aisha and Kim made the alfredo sauce, and Rocky grilled the chicken that would go with the pasta. Knowing how much Rocky and Tommy ate, the girls made sure to make enough food to feed a small army. They brought out a huge pasta bowl, a container that had the home made sauce, and chicken bits on a plater and placed it on the center of the table.

"This looks delicious." Billy said, savoring the past already.

"Yeah, thanks for this awesome dinner guys!" Adam smiled hungrily.

"No problem. I figured we'd like some good food instead of junk." Kim said.

"Alright everyone, dig in!" Aisha said ecclesiastically, pouring some sauce on her pasta. They spent the next half hour enjoying conversations between themselves while devouring their food. Once dinner concluded they sat around for a bit, letting food digest before deciding what to do next.

"Let's play Scrabble." Adam suggested, not really wanting to exert himself after eating two plates of pasta. Billy and Tommy agreed with him, shaking their heads in approval of the idea.

"I think we should play Twister!" Rocky spoke happily.

"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" Aisha and Kat shouted at the same time. The girls looked at each other and laughed at their similar train of though. They all looked at Kim.

"Looks like you're the tie breaker Kim." Adam said smiling.

"Uh...how about we play both? A couple rounds of Scrabble first, to let the food digest and then Twister." A chorus of agreement greeted Kim's ears. They walked to the elevator and pressed the button that would take them down a floor to the break room. They pushed two tables together and set up the first board game. Scrabble was up first. The group played three rounds, with Kim, Adam, and Billy each winning one. After this, Twister was the next game up. Everyone knew hilarity and humiliation would be bound to happen. Once again, they played three rounds, Kat and Kim never playing at the same time – due to their flexibility as a dancer and gymnast respectably – in order to be fair to the others. Kim took the first turn at the spinner, with everyone else removing shoes and other items of clothing or accessories which would only get in the way. The first round came down to Rocky vs. Tommy. They were both trying to outdo the other, with little success at managing to trip each other up. Finally, Tommy slipped trying to get his left foot on a blue dot behind his right hand while trying not to fall on top of Rocky. Rocky stood up and did a victory lap around the room.

The second round was pretty much the same, except for Kat and Kim switching places and the end of the round going to Kim. The last round was a battle of the sexes, with Billy and Kat being the last two left. The guys were cheering Billy on while Aisha and Kim rooted for Kat.

"Alright guys, lets see if you can do this." Kim spun the spinner and waited to see what she would call out, "Left hand...RED!" Both Billy and Kat had their backs to the red circles. They tried in vain to reach out and touch the circle. Both fell, Kat on top of Billy, to the shock of the rest of the group. Kat and Billy groaned, not really trying to move as the rest laughed at the situation. Finally Adam reached out and helped Kat up so Billy could sit up.

"That was very exhausting. I haven't felt this tired and sore since we first became rangers."

"I know what you mean. I though I had gotten over the flexibility due to dancing, but I guess not. I'm sure I'll pay for it in the morning." Kat chuckled. What went unnoticed by the others when Billy first spoke, was the worried glance between Kim and Tommy. Kim knew she'd have to tell the others soon or else it would end up bad. Tommy just nodded his head, letting her know it was time. He made his was to her and stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders as a way of support.

"Guys...there's something that I need to tell you guys." Kim said nervously. The others looked at her with confusion and made themselves comfortable on the floor.

"What's up Kim?" Aisha looked worried, not knowing what to think.

"You guys know how Coach Schmidt is here looking for gymnast to train for the Pan Globals? Well, he uh...he offered me a spot on the team." Kim looked at them with a nervous smile. The group stared blankly at her, not sure how to react. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they all jumped up and hugged her all at once.

"Great job Kim!"

"Way to go!"

"That's fantastic!"

"Go Kim!"

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it." She smiled at them, her nervousness not abating. The others noticed too but didn't say anything. "However, that's only half the news. There's a slight problem with this situation. Coach Schmidt said that once the team has been formed, he would be taking them back to Florida to train them." Kim looked anxious after saying the last part, not really sure how the others would react to this part of the news. Tommy turned to glance at Kim and saw how nervous she was.

"Whoa..." Adam was the first to speak, his tone evidence of being thrown off guard by the news.

"Whoa is right. I mean, who would have thought...Kim living in Florida!" Billy spoke, a huge smile on his face. Kim blinked, not quite processing what Billy said.

"Yeah, I mean, can you imagine, sunny beaches, amusement parks, girls!" Rocky said, chuckling at Kim's disbelief. Aisha punched him in the arm before speaking up.

"You are going to let us visit right?" she raised one eyebrow as she asked this, challenging Kim to say no.

"Uh..yeah, of course!" Kim broke into a grin. "Thank you guys." She turned to look Billy in the eye, "Billy, thank you for understanding." Billy just nodded.

"That's what big brothers are for Kim. I know you've dreamed of this for a very long time. And this is a once in a life-time opportunity. There's no way you could miss this chance."

"I was so afraid of what all of you would say. Especially you Billy. I didn't want to leave you alone here."

"And why would I be alone?" Billy's tone indicated he was curious to understand his friend's train of thought.

"Because," Kim sighed and looked down at her hands, "because if I left, then it would mean you'd be the last of the originals. I didn't want you to be sad because of that."

"Don't worry about me Kim. While I may be sad that I'll be the last original ranger, I will never be alone. Not as long as there are rangers around. These guys are here with me so they'll keep me company." Billy stood up and walked towards Kim. Both hugged each other strongly before letting go. The others soon followed and each gave Kim a hug. Tommy hugged her last, giving her a kiss and whispering into her ear.

"See, I told you they would be happy for you." Kim could only nod as emotions flooded her. She was a little teary eyes. After a minute, she smiled and wiped her eyes clean.

"Thank you guys. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"We do know. That's why we have nothing but love and support for you. We all wish you the best and we know you'll make us all proud." Adam said.

"Now, what do you say we celebrate the good news with a really good dessert?" Rocky suggested. The group laughed at his antics but readily agreed. They grabbed a few pints of ice cream from the freezer, some whipped cream, and toppings before heading back to watch another movie and then calling it a night.

~ ~ ~ Sunday 5:30 a.m. ~ ~ ~

They had all managed to go to bed around midnight, each to their own rooms. While everyone was slumbering away, there was one ranger already up and about...sort of.

Kimberly was already busy training since she hadn't done so yesterday. She and Zordon had already come up with a rigorous schedule in order for her to catch up on years of missed training. Starting this week, Mondays and Wednesdays would be devoted to training her mind and developing her mental powers. Tuesdays and Thursdays would see her focus on her physical powers, while Fridays and one day of the weekend would be used to develop her healing abilities. After each training session there would be a small break before starting up combat training for the rest of the day.

As it was Sunday, Kim decided to work on her healing abilities. For about an hour she discussed the concept of healing herself as well as others. She and Zordon would also have a lesson for the day on a specific healing ability. Once Zordon was sure that she had the hang of it, he summoned different creatures form the forest for her to heal. Each creature was different and had various wounds for her to practice her healing on. By the end of the session, Kim was exhausted but filled with a deep sense of pride for what she had accomplished. Zordon was also quite proud of her.

"Excellent Kimberly. You have made incredible progress today. If you continue with this schedule of training, you will be all caught up in no time. I am sure you will make a powerful healing one day."

"Thanks dad. I'm so tired but so energized at the same time. I can't wait to learn more about the rest of my powers."

"That is good. This will be all for today in terms of your powers. Rest up for a bit and have some food before starting combat training. We'll pick up on this training tomorrow." Kim nodded in agreement.

"Have you prepared everything for Friday?"

"Yes. Everything is set and ready to go." Kimberly sighed. Although she knew it was for the greater good, she couldn't help but feel deeply saddened by what would happen in the next few days. Noticing how sad she was, Zordon decided to cheer her up.

"I have a gift for you. When you get a chance, go to the Zord Bay and head over to the garage. Enter ZCRANE as the code to open the door." Kim looked the confused. "However, I must ask you to keep this from the others. Your gift has been made especially for you." Kim had an idea of what her present was but opted to wait and see for herself.

"You should have done that dad. But thank you."

"It is no problem. Now you might want to keep combat training short today. The others will wake up soon."

"Okay. I'll probably only do an hour of training, so I'll stop around 9:30."

"That sounds good. Just call for me when you're ready to leave. Do you want me to set up for the first three training levels?"

"Yes please."

Zordon set the training levels accordingly and left to take care of other business. Kimberly began her own routine. The level started relatively simple, with 25 putties attacking her. Each level increased the number of attackers while decreasing the time limit. After an hour, was soaking in sweat but felt completely satisfied. Beating up a couple of putties was also an excellent way of getting rid of her anger and frustration. Closing her eyes and focusing, Kimberly concentrated on contacting Zordon through their mental link.

"Dad. I think I'm done for the day."

"Okay. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes. I was wondering if it was possible for me to try to go back on my own today."

"If you feel you are ready, then go ahead. Remember that if you need any help, I'm right here. Just ask and I will help you."

Kimberly nodded and closed her eyes. She focused on the link that she learned to recognize, the bod that tied her soul to her body. She imagined that link to be a rope. She pulled this rope slowly, going back into her physical body little by little. Making sure she was completely in her body, Kim slowly opened her eyes to see the ceiling of her room in the Command Center. She sat up and noticed that she was indeed covered with sweat. _I guess even I'm gonna get gross even though I don't do anything physically._ Getting out of bed, she grabbed some clothes and a towel and jumping in the shower. Letting the spray of warm water hit her, she began thinking about how she was going to carry out her plan on Friday.

As far as everyone knew, she would be going to Florida to train for the Pan Global. Coach Schmidt and the girls would be leaving this evening. She had asked him if she could have one more week to decide what she would do. Coach Schmidt agreed but said that if she didn't have an answer by Wednesday, he would replace her. She accepted the deal and said she would have her answer by then. She told everyone else that she was leaving on Friday in order to give herself a few extra days to settle all of her affairs. Kim realized that eventually she would have to explain why she never competed or where she disappeared to since leaving Angel Grove that Friday afternoon. However, that was still far off into the future, so she didn't focus on it too much.

She stepped out of the shower and decided to ask for Zordon's opinion on her plan.

_Dad?_

_ Yes Kimberly?_

_ I wanted to talk to you about what's going to happen on Friday._

_ Okay, why don't you come to my room. We can talk here in private._

_ I'll see you in a bit then. _Drying her hair, she put on her shoes and headed to the elevator. Once inside, she opened a hidden compartment and placed her thumb on the touch pad. She felt a small prick and she knew that her blood was now being analyzed to make sure she had permission to go to Zordon's room. After removing her hand, the compartment closed and a beeping sound emanated from the speaker accepting her blood as that of Zordon's heir. The elevator whirred into motion, slowly taking her past the Zord Bay to a chamber, whose existence was only known by three individuals in the entire universe. And even if other knew about this room, only those with Zordon's blood could access it.

While Alpha had already taken care of adding Kimberly to the system, there was also a built in safety measure in case others needed to access the room in case of an emergency. Zordon had blood samples of all his rangers and their names were on a list of pre-approved people allowed to enter his room. Once both the ocular scan and the blood analysis were complete and they passed, the hidden compartment would open that would allow them to enter his chamber. But for now, only Kimberly was on the approved list.

When Kimberly stepped out of the elevator, she was greeted by Zordon's chamber which was as large as the first floor. Currently, three of the four walls were lined with books from floor to ceiling. She made a mental note to have her father tell her more about these books on a later date. The fourth wall, which was directly opposite the elevator doors contained Zordon's warp tube with a small podium in front of it. Kim found Zordon reading a book, the pages seemingly turing themselves of their own accord. Zordon looked up when the elevator doors opened and smiled upon seeing Kim's reaction to his room.

"Hello Kimberly. How was your training?"

"I think it went well. I finished level three in fifteen minutes. I'm going to start level four tomorrow."

"Excellent. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've come up with a plan on how to tell the others about Florida. But my main concern is what's going to happen once I return as Kimana."

"As you know, the other rangers believe you will be on a plane to Florida and they will want to come back here and regroup for the weekend. I will do my best to help them move on and adjust to the new changes with the team." Kim nodded in agreement, believing that the others would need help and support from their mentor to come to terms with these changes. "I believe you should remain in your room for the remainder of the day. Give them some time to settle their emotions before seeing Kimana again."

"But won't Kat be using my room?"

"Yes, but we'll probably make arrangements for her to move in on Saturday."

"So what's going to happen the rest of the weekend?"

"While I could put you in one of the guest quarters, you should have a room here that is all yours. That's why I've decided that this will be your room from now on. As you know, I don't require much in terms of personal items. Alpha will arrange everything so that you will be comfortable here."

"But..I can't take your room. It would be better if I just stayed in one of the guest rooms. I won't be here for very long anyway."

"Nonsense. I insist. This will be your one day anyway. Why no start making it yours now?" Kim frowned but agreed. "Excellent. Alpha will get anything you need. You are free to do anything you want in terms of decorating and furniture choice." Kim smiled in appreciation.

"So what is going to happen the rest of the weekend? I mean, I could stay here until it's time for me to go if I have to."

"You are free to do anything you want during that time. Beginning Saturday, I'd like you to continue your training. Since you will be focusing solely on this now, I think mornings should be dedicated to combat training and the afternoons for your abilities. Your evenings will be spent learning the history of my planet as well as Phaedos. Along with your history lessons, you will also learn more about the responsibilities you will be taking on once you assume the throne." Kim smiled, looking forward to learning more about where Zordon comes from.

"Sunday will be a hard day for both of us. Though I do not yet know when, at some point you will be taken to Phaedos to begin your training with Dulcea and Ninjor." Both Zordon and Kimberly were saddened by the though of separations. They had only just begun familiarizing themselevs with their new bond and didn't want to leave each other.

"I understand. I just hope I can do this."

"I believe in you Kimberly. Your training is of the utmost importance. While I have taught you much, you need someone who will focus on you completely. I am needed here and thus I can not dedicate all of my time to you alone, though I deeply wish I could. There are also things which you must learn that I can no longer teach. Do not doubt yourself Kimberly. You are ready for this. If you do not trust yourself, trust in me and my judgement. I believe you are ready for this and I know you will quickly surpass any and all expectations." Kim looked at him and at that moment desperately wished she could hug him. She was so grateful for Zordon's trust and belief in her.

"What will I be able to take with me?"

"Anything you feel you need. You will have your own room and personal area to do whatever you wish."

"Okay." She wanted to shed tears, emotional about leaving her home to a place she did not yet know well enough to be comfortable. Zordon noticed this and understood how she felt.

"Look at it this way – the quicker you complete your training, the sooner you'll come home. Do not forget, Eltar and I will be waiting for your return. By the time you finish, I will be able to return home and announce you as my heir. You will meet the rest of your family and I will teach you more about our people." Kim liked the idea that she would have a family waiting for her when she returned. She knew things would be hard from now on, but she had many reasons to succeed.

"Dad, can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I know you might not agree to it, but I feel that it will help _me_ immensely. I don't know if I will be able to handle al of this on my own. It's not that I feel as if I can't talk to you or those helping me. It's just that I need someone who isn't tied to any of this, at least not directly. Someone whom I can talk to and won't just tell me to be patient. I'm going to need a friend with whom I can talk to about other stuff, not just training. Is there anyway I can ask someone to be there when I need them?". Zordon had a feeling that Kim was asking for permission to have Trini involved in this.

"I understand what you are asking, but you must comprehend the dangers that will come with knowing about all of this. I need not worry about you because you have powers and thus you can defend yourself. If you bring in someone else, they will be in the same dangers as you, but unlike you, they will be helpless."

"Well, what if this person wasn't a civilian?"

"Who did you have in mind?"

"I was actually thinking about asking Kat." Zordon was surprised at Kimberly's choice.

"You would like for Kat to be more involved in all of this?"

"Yes. I feel a very strong bond with her, especially since she's going to be sharing the power of the Crane."

"I see. Perhaps this can be done. Let me think about it and I'll let you know when I've made a decision."

"Okay." Kim truly hoped that this could happen.

"Was that everything you wanted to ask me about?"

"Yeah. I think I'll go have some breakfast and see who else is up and about."

"Very well. I will see you later today. If not, then tomorrow."

"Bright and early!" Kim smiled asa she headed back tot he elevator.

"Kimberly, may I ask you something?" Kim stopped as she reached the doors and turned around.

"Sure dad, anything."

"Why Katherine? I thought you would have asked for Trini. After all, you grew up together and are very close. I had started thinking about the possibility of having to provide _any_ type of protection for her, though I haven't yet come up with anything."

"To be honest, I had thought of her first. But I knew that she would be in more danger _now_ than ever before if she were to know the truth. While I do love her like a sister and I trust her with my life, I could never intentionally risk her life. She's my sister in everything but blood and I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to her." Kim looked pained at the thought of something happening to Trini because of her. "Kat on the other hand has you and the other rangers to fall back on. And because we're going to be sharing my powers, I will know if she's in any danger and come to her if I need to." Zordon looked at Kim, just the tiniest bit in awe of her response.

"I understand. I shall let you know the moment I come up with anything."

"Okay. Thanks dad. See you later." Kim got into the elevator and pressed the button to the cafeteria. She smiled at Zordon as the doors closed, glad that he was okay with her choice. Zordon stared at where Kimberly just stood, never more proud of her than at that very moment. He was amazed at her maturity and wisdom. Now more than ever he would make sure that he could grant this request for Kimberly. He would work twice as hard to protect Kat, if only for Kimberly's sake.

**AN: That's it for this chapter. I swear the next chapter will be about the day Kim leaves. This is also the last full chapter I had written down. I think that I'll crank out more chapters now, since I'll be typing directly as opposed to copying things from paper to computer. I also have some serious issues in my personal life that I'm taking care of. This is both good and bad for you guys because that means I have more time to write but I could also stop at any given moment for a long time. But if things end up on a good note, then everything should be good for both you and me. *crosses fingers* Here's hoping!**

**Thanks to all of you guys who've been adding this story to your favorites. It really means a lot. **

**Also – I know that a lot of people are going through some serious trouble due to all the natural disasters and storms happening all over the world. I hope that all of you are okay and that your families are doing well. **

**I'll update as soon as I can guys. Don't forget to review this chapter!**

**- Nightlancer600**


	17. Chapter 17: Final Farewell

**AN: Well, here's the chapter I promised. This one is about Kim leaving. Sorry it took a bit but I was having trouble finishing it. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks as always to my beta Alana. She allows you guy to have an awesome and error free chapter. There's a question for you guys at the end of the chapter.**

**Chapter 17: Final Farewell**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Friday 6:00 am ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kimberly was wide awake when her alarm went off. _Today's the day..._ Today, she would say good bye to the rangers. Today she would say good bye to her friends. Today she would say good bye to Tommy. _I don't know if I can do this._ Kim stared at the ceiling, hoping beyond hope that it would somehow provide a solution to this dilemma. Aisha was still sound asleep, so Kim decided to stay in bed for a little while longer. _Calm down Kim. You're fine. Zordon needs you. Besides, he said it himself yesterday, he believes in you. _After a few more minutes, Kim got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. As she was brushing her teeth, she heard Aisha stumble out of bed and make her way toward the bathroom.

"Morning Kim." Aisha croaked out, reaching for her toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Morning Sha." Both continued with their morning routines. Every once in a while, Aisha would stop what she was doing and glance at Kim sadly. Noticing these glances, Kim finally stopped what she was doing and asked Aisha what was wrong.

"What's up Aisha? You keep looking at me like I'm dying."

"It's just that, this is the last time we're going to be doing _this_", she motioned with her hands at her surroundings, "I've grown so used to you being here every morning. It's going to be weird once you're gone." Kim came up to her and embraced her.

"Aisha. I figured you'd be happy getting your room back." Both laughed at the joke, easing the sadness they both felt. "Don't be sad. You know you can write me letters and call me anytime. I've asked Zordon to help out with that. If any of you want to call me or write letters, just let him know and they'll get to me a lot faster than the postal service."

"You know I will. You'll probably get tired of all the letters you're gonna get from me."

"Never. Besides, I wouldn't have it any other way." After another squeeze, the girls let go and finished getting ready for school.

The entire day went by incredibly fast. People would get sad and teary-eyed when saying good bye to Kim. She truly was a popular person at Angel Grove High. A lot of friends stopped her through out the day to wish her luck and to keep in touch. By the end of the school day she had a few cards and pictures to commemorate her time at in Angel Grove. After school, the rangers plus Kat headed over to Ernie's.

"So Kim, are you all packed?" Billy asked.

"Um, yeah. I think so. I just need to grab my stuff from Aisha's house and I'm all set."

"Cool. So how about we pick your stuff up from Sha's house and then head over to the Command Center? But first – lunch!" Rocky said, leading the group into Ernie's.

Ernie greeted the group warmly and ushered them to their usual table and told them to relax.

"This meal is on the house. Think of it as a mini going away party for Kim from me."

"Awww. Thanks Ernie!" Kim smiled and hugged him. Ernie hugged her back and headed into the kitchen. He came out a few minutes later with everyone's favorite sandwiches and drinks. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks Ernie!" Adam said before they all began to eat. To pass the time, they all talked about fond memories of the past. After a few minutes, Kat excused herself and said that she had to go run a quick errand for her mother before heading home. After hugging Kim good bye and telling the others that she'd see them later, Kat left. Kim then began telling the others a story of sleep over the originals had once at Jason's house.

"So my parents dropped me off at the front door and I rang the door bell, waiting for Jason's mom to let me in. Once she did, she said that others were all there and waiting for me up in Jason's room. When I got there, I had expected the boys to be playing some sort of game while Trini waited patiently for my arrival. I never in my wildest dreams expected to see what I saw. I opened the door to see Trini and Billy rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically while Zack and Jason were trying desperately to come apart." The others laughed at what Kim was saying, trying to imagine how it was this situation came to be. Billy tried to calm his laughter in order to finish the story.

"You see, when I was younger, I was very small. It was very difficult for me to find appropriately-sized clothing. So, my father decided to adjust one of my belts by adding a very powerful magnet buckle in order for my pants to stay on no matter what, until I turned the magnet off. I had already changed into my pjs when Zack asked if he could try on the belt. I said he could, but before I could warn him about the magnet's shield, he turned on the magnet. Unfortunately for Jason, he was too close at that precise moment and he was still wearing his belt, so you can imagine how they became stuck. Neither really understood what was happening, so they decided to pull away from each other with little success. Kim came in shortly after one of these attempts and all three of us broke into fits of laughter. Once we minimized the laughing to sporadic giggles, I turned the magnet off, releasing the hold and allowing them to separate." Billy smiled fondly at that memory, Kim mirroring his expression.

"Needless to say, that was the fastest I'd ever seen Jason change clothes. Zack learned after that to ask before pushing buttons." Kim spoke. The others laughed at this story, picturing this whole situation happening.

"Oh man. Billy, do you still have that belt?" Rocky asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Somewhere in my closet." Billy smiled.

"You'll have to show it to us one of these days." Adam said, Billy nodding in agreement. Ernie came out with a small cake and said his final good bye to Kim before they all made their way to Aisha's house. Once they grabbed Kim's things and she thanked Aisha's parents for their hospitality, they made their way to the Command Center.

"Hello rangers. I hope your day was pleasant." Alpha greeted them as he moved around the room.

"Yes it was." Billy spoke up.

"Alpha is Zordon busy?" Kim asked.

"I am here Kimberly. I hope your day was enjoyable." Zordon spoke, appearing in his warp tube.

"Yes it was. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends." Kim beamed.

"Excellent. Now, I know that you have to get to the airport soon. You asked me earlier, if you could pass on your powers before departing for Florida. And though it pains me, it seems the time has come. I know you and I discussed the possibilities for who your successor will be. You seemed pretty confident in your choice then, and as I have not heard anything else from you, I assume that you have remained positive in who you've chosen. It is now that you must reveal your decision to your teammates." The other rangers were shocked. They didn't know Kim had already chosen her successor. Kim took a deep breath before speaking.

"After careful consideration, I've decided that the appropriate person to take over my place as the pink power ranger will be Katherine." Kim looked at the others, trying to gauge their reactions to her choice. She hoped that they wouldn't be angry or hurt that she hadn't consulted them in this matter. The others had a look of confusion, trying to digest this information. Aisha and Tommy were to first to break into smiles and nodding their heads in approval. Once the news settled, the others joined in.

"That's great Kim. We couldn't agree more." Billy said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Kim. Excellent choice." Adam said.

"Thanks guys. I figured since she has been hanging out with us and knows all about what we do, who better than he to take over?"

"I agree Kimberly. Alpha, please teleport Katherine here." Alpha did as he was asked, pushing some buttons that caused a bright light to shine in the middle of the Command Center. After a moment, the light faded to reveal Katherine.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Kat asked, surprised when she felt herself teleporting from her room. She looked around and realized that she was standing in front of Zordon.

"Kat. As you know, I have to pass on my powers before I leave. I have talked to Zordon already, and I've gotten the others approvals. I have decided that you would make the perfect addition to this team and would make an excellent ranger. I know you will help this team immensely and they will help you in this new venture. If you accept, Zordon will perform the power transfer." Kat nodded, to shocked to speak. She didn't know when she would become the new ranger, but she hadn't expected it to be like this.

"Katherine," Zordon spoke, " do you accept the powers of the Pink Crane and take on the duties and responsibilities of being a power ranger?"

"I accept."

"Kimberly, please take Katherine's hands in your own." Kim did as she was told and both girls were enveloped in a bright pink light. Slowly, the pink light began to ebb away to a soft glow, revealing the pink power floating in front of Kim. She let go of Kat's hands and plucked the coin from the air. She looked at it fondly, smiling as she held it in her hands. She felt the groove of the crane and ran her thumb across it, appreciating every moment that she had spent with this coin for the last two years of a her life. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Kat and placed the coin in her hands before stepping back.

"You are now the Pink Crane Power Ranger. As my successor, you are now the pilot of the Crane Zord and have control over the Crane Ninjetti powers. I trust you to live up to this legacy. Welcome to the family." Kim smiled before hugging Kat and standing next to Zordon.

"Thanks Kim. I promise I won't let you down." Kat smiled staring at the coin in her hands.

"Congratulations Kat." Tommy said, stepping up and hugging her as well. He went to stand next to Kim and enveloped her in a one armed hug. "You did great Beautiful."

"Thanks." Kim smiled at him and waited for the others to finish hugging Kat.

"Congratulations Katherine. As Kimberly said, welcome to the Ranger family. Over the next few days you will become acclimated to your new powers. Do not be afraid to ask for help during this time, or any other for that matter. We are here to answer any and all questions."

"Thank you Zordon. All of you. I promise I'll make all of you proud."

"I am confident you will Katherine." Alpha said, stepping up to hug her as well.

"Guys, I think it's time for me to head out." Kim said, looking at her watch.

"You're right. Kat, will you be joining us?" Billy asked.

"Sorry guys. My parents aren't back from work yet. I'm suppose to stay home until they get back. But I hope that you have a safe flight. And I'm sure you'll do great at the Pan Globals." Kat said, smiling and hugging Kim once more.

"Thanks Kat. And you'll do great with your new job."

"Thanks Kim. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"Take care. And I'll see you guys later." Kat waved once and teleported back home.

"Alright. We should really head out now." Kim turned to face Alpha, "Alpha, you're coolest robot I've ever met. I'm going to miss you so much. Thank you for everything." Kim hugged the android hard.

"Ayayayayai, You're going to make my circuit board short out. I will miss you too Kimberly."

"Zordon," Kim let go of Alpha and turned to face him, "Thank you. For everything. For never giving up on me and believing in me. You have been like a father to me and for that I will forever be thankful. It is in part because of you that I have become a better person. So, thank you." Kim placed one hand on his warp tube. _I mean it dad. Thank you for everything._

"You are welcome Kimberly. Thank you for accepting the power. You have all become like my children and it pains me to see you go. Bit I understand that you need to go and spread your wings. Be careful on your new journey and may the power protect you." Zordon smiled at Kim, knowing that she understood the hidden meaning of his message.

"I'll miss you Zordon."

"And I you, my pink crane." Kim stepped back as she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. She looked at the Command Center and was saddened by the thought that it would be a long time before she would be back in this wonderful place. The rangers said their good byes to Zordon and Alpha before heading back to their cars and making their way to the airport.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Friday, 5:30 p.m. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The ride to the airport was relatively quiet. Each ranger was deep in though on how things would change. Once they got there, Kim checked in and waited to pass through security. Boarding for Kim's flight was soon called and she began heading to the checkpoint. As she was getting in line she heard her name being called out.

"Kim! Wait!" Kat rushed to make it to where the group was standing. Kim smiled at the fact that Kat did try to make it to the airport after all. She pulled Kat to the side, wanting to talk to her in private.

"Kat. I need you to do something for me. Take this," Kim handed her a small package, making sure the others didn't see the exchange. "Keep it safe. Don't show it to anyone, not even Tommy. Don't worry, everything will be explained soon. Zordon or Alpha will let you know when to bring this out. In the mean time, keep it in your room in the Command Center." Kat nodded and placed the package in her bag.

"Okay. I won't show anyone. I promise."

"Thank you." Kim hugged her one more time before Tommy called out that she was going to miss her flight. Kim said good bye to everyone once again before getting in line through security and boarding the plane. Making sure she wasn't noticed, she made her way to the bathroom from there and she teleported to her brand new pink 1967 mustang – a gift from her father – and waitied until the others left the airport before heading towards the desert.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Kimberly was driving towards the Command Center. She was alone in her thoughts as she made her way to her home now. Once she reached her destination, she pulled of the main road and onto an unmarked path towards the Zord Bay entrance. Once she reached the garage door she swiped her right wrist to unlock it and parked her car inside. She was really glad that Zordon had given her the car as a welcome to the family gift. She also thought it was cool that only she knew that there was a garage for cars in the Zord Bay. She stepped out of her car and stretched out, a bit sore from the drive. Once she felt rejuvenated, Kim changed into her Eltarian Ninjetti clothing and made sure her mask was on before stepping out into the open.

"Dad?" Kim asked out loud.

"Zordon is currently talking to the other rangers." Alpha said as he entered the Zord Bay.

"Oh. Alright. I think I'll just let him know I'm here."

"Yes. That's a good idea."

"Okay. Thanks Alpha." Kim focused on her invisibility and headed up to the first floor. When she got there she saw that all the rangers were there, each looking sad and unsure of what to do.

"Rangers. I believe that a break is in order. Barring any attack made by Zedd, take the next few days to acclimate to these new changes. Time must be given for your emotions to settle."

"We know. It's just that it's hard knowing that Kim isn't here anymore." Kat said.

"Like Zordon said, this is going to take some time." Adam mentioned. Kim was listening to them speak for a bit before deciding to interrupt. She focused on her levitation power and took to the air. Once there, she made sure to alter her voice before speaking out loud.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything." The rangers jumped, startled by the sudden noise. They looked around them, looking for the source, before they looked up to see Kim slowly becoming visible and began descending to the ground.

"Welcome back Kimana." Zordon spoke, smiling at her entrance.

"It is good to be back, even if it's only for a few days."

"It is good to see you are safe. I assume your journey went smoothly?"

"Everything went according to plan. I do not expect any problems any time soon."

"This is good news. You have arrived at a difficult time for my rangers. The original pink ranger has decided to pursue a different path and so we now have a new member on the team. Kimana, I'd like you to meet Katherine Hillard."

"Hello." Kat walked up to Kim and held out her hand.

"It is nice to meet you Katherine." Kim took her hand, hoping not to give herself away. Despite her efforts, upon contact with Kat's hand, both felt a familiar tug. They did not immediately let go of each other's hands. A nagging feeling in the back of her head was telling Kat that she knew this person from somewhere, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Realizing that they were still shaking hands, Kat let go, blushing slightly.

"Please, call me Kat."

"Very well, It is nice to meet you Kat." Kim turned to face Zordon again. "Father I believe I will retire for the night. I have had a very busy day and I'm hoping to get a good night's sleep."

"I understand. Will you be staying in your quarters for the rest of the day?"

"I believe so. I might have a short work out before going to bed."

"You know where all the facilities are located. Have a good night and I'll see you in the morning." She turned to the rangers once again. "Good night rangers. Good night Alpha." Kim began to blend in to her surroundings when Tommy interrupted her.

"Kimana, wait!" He walked up to her and stuck his hand out, "I'd like to apologize for my behavior the last time you were here. It was uncalled for. I hope you can forgive me and give me a second change." Kim smiled inwardly and felt incredibly proud of him.

"Thank you for your apology. Do not dwell on the past. All is forgotten. My father explained the situation. I understand why you had that reaction. I'm glad everything turned out alright."

"Us too. Let me introduce you to the rest of the team." Everyone stood behind Tommy and each stepped forward to introduce themselves.

"I'm Aisha."

"Rocky."

"I'm Adam, nice to meet you."

"My names is William, but my friends call me Billy."

"It is a pleasure to meet the rangers my father speaks of so often. I'd like to thank you for all your help. My father and I are grateful for everything you've done."

"We're glad to be of service." Billy said smiling.

"Thank you anyway. I hope you all have a good evening. I'll see you early in the morning father."

"That sounds good. I'd like to speak to you before you retire for the night." Kimberly nodded in acknowledgement before disappearing and heading towards her new room. Meanwhile, Zordon turned to the others and addressed them once more.

"Thank you for your apology Tommy."

"It was necessary Zordon. I was a complete and total jerk to her last time."

"What are you going to do for the rest of the evening?"

"I think we're all going to hang out here for tonight. We'll head home sometime tomorrow."

"Ok. Each of you is dealing with the loss of Kimberly in a different way. Take your time to adjust and accept what has happened. Please remember that I am here if you need anything."

"Thanks Zordon. We'll be okay." Rocky said with a sad smile.

"I hope to see you all tomorrow morning. Have a good night." Zordon left his warp tube and appeared in the one located inside his chambers. Kim was levitating while sitting indian style a few feet from the floor and reading a book. He smiled at how well she was progressing with her powers.

"I see you have begun to manage your powers and integrate them into everyday tasks." Kimberly looked up at hearing her father's voice and smiled at his comment.

"Yeah. I figured the more I practiced – regardless of the task – the better I would get."

"You are correct."

"So are you all set up there?" Kim asked, her eyes going back to the book.

"Yes. They are all deeply saddened by your departure."

"I saw. I'm sad that I had to leave too. But, it was a necessary choice. It's all for the greater good."

"Sadly, yes. Now what do you prefer to do about your sleeping arrangements for this weekend?"

"If it's okay with you, I'll just set up a small cot here. There's no point in setting something up since I'll be leaving on Sunday."

"If that is what you want, I'll have Alpha set something up. Shall I do that now or until after you're done with your workout?"

"I don't know how long I'll be gone. I guess we should set it up now so that if I do end up knocking out after my workout then it won't be on the floor."

"Very well. I'll see you back here when you're done." Zordon decided to pick up where he left off in the book he was reading just as Kimberly headed towards the gym.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 10:00 p.m. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kim was floating three feet off the ground. Unlike earlier in Zordon's room, now she was standing up. She learned that in this particular position, finding her balance while floating in mid air was more difficult. After a physical workout for an hour, she decided to work some more on her powers. Focusing completely on keeping her balance, Kim didn't notice when Katherine entered the room. Kat watched as Kim floated off the ground in a seemingly effortless motion. Kim began to rise a little bit, struggling as she went up every inch. After another minute she began to falter, swaying a bit before finally falling down. Kat rushed to help her, instantly kneeling beside her.

"Kimana, are you okay?"

"Katherine. I didn't notice you were there." Kat offered a hand, which Kim took, and pulled her up. "Thank you. I didn't expect to land on my butt when I started this exercise."

"That was impressive, even though you're probably the only person I've met with super powers like this."

"Yes well, not too many of us are around to be seen."

"What else can you do besides levitating and becoming invisible?" Kim grabbed her stuff and began heading towards the elevator. Kat frowned, hoping that she hadn't asked an inappropriate question or offended her in anyway. Kim just looked over her shoulder at Kat, not looking mad at all.

"I'm heading to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. I can tell you more about my powers there if you don't mind staying up a little longer."

"Sure. So can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"What is your question?"

"Do you know why Zordon kept your existence from the rangers for so long? I mean, based on what I saw, the rangers were pretty surprised at the fact that you existed." Kimberly paused for a moment, trying to come up with a reasonable and believable explanation that didn't require her to lie to her friend.

"That would be because of me. What I do is very dangerous and not just for me. I asked him not to say anything because of this. Certain aspects of my life and what I do require my existence to be a secret. Not many people know that I am alive, let alone on Earth. In order to keep my father and this planet safe, I must stay a secret for as long as possible."

"So that trip you just came back from, that had to do with your um...dangerous job?"

"Yes." They entered the kitchen and Kim headed to the fridge to pull the ingredients for a small salad. She placed everything on the counter before getting a plate and utensils to make her food.

"What you guys to here on Earth, defending it against Zedd and Rita, I do on a galactic scale. At least that's what I'm trying to do. Right now, I'm working hard to complete my training in order to begin a galactic alliance against Zedd and all of his allies." Kat nodded and grabbed two glasses of water before helping Kim put away everything. They sat in front of each other, Kat continuing her line of questioning.

"So, what other powers do you have?"

"Well, aside from the two you've seen, I'm a telepath/telekinetic and I can heal. My father said that these are only the basics. Once I've mastered my training, I will have control over these powers and have the possibility to learn others."

"Wow, that's incredible. You must train really hard in order to control all of them."

"Yes I do. Everyday, bright and early. I usually have one training session with my father and then I train myself for the rest of the day."

"What does your training consist of?"

"Meditation, in order to help me focus for about an hour or two before I do anything else. Then, depending on what I'm training for that day, different sessions requiring me to use my powers to the best of my abilities. Levels of intensity increase as I get better."

"It sounds super intense."

"It is." Kim had not touched her food yet, which Kat had noticed. She looked at Kim with a confused stare.

"What is it?"

"Why haven't you touched your food? I assume that you're pretty hungry after working out so hard."

"I am. However, I have a slight problem. I don't know yet whether to I can show my face to anyone. I keep my ninja face mask on for a reason. No one aside from my father and Alpha have seen my true face."

"Oh. I see." Kat nodded. Kim sat uncomfortably. She wasn't sure how to broach the topic of her identity with anyone yet, especially Kat.

"I figured I would answer your questions before going back to my room to eat."

"I understand. Then I shouldn't keep you anymore. But I hope that you know you can trust me...all of us really. We won't do anything to jeopardize your mission."

"Thank you." Kim stood up and grabbed her food. Kat took her glass to the sink before heading to the elevator. Kim figured this would be the last chance to tell Kat the truth before leaving. While she hadn't gotten an answer from Zordon on whether or not Kat would be safe knowing the truth, she had a feeling that Kat would be safe for now and she needed to tell someone soon. Both were quiet, as the elevator doors opened and they stepped in. After a second, the elevator stopped, indicating that they reached the guest rooms floor.

"Good night Kimana. See you tomorrow." Kat smiled as she exited the elevator. Kim took in a deep breath and decided that she would tell Kat tonight.

"Kat, wait." Kat stopped and turned around. Kim got off the elevator and stood next to her. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Um...yeah." Kat looked at Kim quizzically.

"This is a huge secret. One that _no one_ can know about. My life depends on it. And if I tell you my secret, then your life would be in danger as well." Kim wanted Kat to understand the severity of this situation before spilling everything. Kat was trying to process and come up with a good enough secret that required this much of an effort to keep quiet. _Just how dangerous is this secret? Could it really kill someone?Could it get__** me**__ killed?_ Kim tried to read Kat without using her powers. She didn't want to violate anyone's privacy, especially her friends. Finally Kim spoke again.

"I need to know that you won't tell anyone, not even the other rangers about it."

"I...I d-dont' know." Kat was nervous about all of this. _Is this anyway to start my tenure as a ranger? By lying to my friends?_ Kat looked at Kim, not being able to shake the feeling that she got when she first met Kimana. It was this feeling that somehow reassured her that Kimana was telling the truth and that she needed her. Somehow, she knew that she could trust Kimana and in turn Kimana could trust her.

"Kat?" Kim asked once more, fearing that she might not be able to tell anyone after all. She knew that she was asking a lot of her friend and would not hold it against her if she decided not to get involved.

"Yes. You can trust me to keep your secret. No one will ever know." Kim gave a sigh of relief and smiled at Kat's determination.

"Ok. Hang on." Kim took Kat by the arm and teleported them to Kat's room. She was still in one of the guest rooms, the others helping her move in to the ranger floor tomorrow.

"How did you do that? I thought no one could teleport into a room that wasn't their own."

"They can't. But I can override the security protocols. Zordon's my dad remember? I have an all-access pass the whole Command Center."

"Wow." Kat sat down on her bed while Kim set her food down on the nightstand. She sat down next to Kat and turned to face her.

"Katherine, everything I'm going to say must remain strictly confidential. No one can find out about this. Our lives _will_ depend on it."

"I understand." Kat stared at Kim as she opened a panel next to the bed and pressed a sequence of buttons." Kat looked at Kim in awe.

"Just a precaution. Locking your door and making it soundproof."

"Really? You'll have to show me how to do that later." Kat smiled, trying to relieve some of the tension. Kim nodded in agreement.

"Remember Kat, no matter what you see, no matter what I tell you, you _**can not**_ tell anyone. Not one word." Kat shook her head, feeling way more nervous now than any other time in her life. Kim closed her eyes and focused on powering down. Kat stared as pink, white, and black light engulfed Kimana. She shielded her eyes, the light feeling a bit too intense due to their proximity. After a minute, Kat lowered her arm, but waited a moment to open her eyes. Kim saw that Kat was hesitant.

"It's okay Kat," Kim dropped the voice modifier and used her normal voice, "you can open your eyes now.". Kat scrunched her face, _I know that voice. But it's not possible, she's.._Kat opened her eyes slowly, making sure that her vision wasn't blurry before looking at where Kimana was sitting.

"Kim!"

**AN: So what'd you think? I hope you all liked it. I'm almost done with this part of the trilogy. Probably another 5 chapters left and then we'll be moving on. Though I am debating where the break off will be. Now, the really important question: I'd like to know from all of you guys – what other powers do you think Kim should have? I've named the basics here, but if you guys can think of any others that would be useful or cool to have, let me know.**

**Review before leaving this page please :D**

**Nightlancer6000 **


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